Honourable senators, I have risen in this chamber on many occasions to highlight the important role that 4-H Canada has played in my life. Today, I rise to highlight both November as 4-H Month and today as Show Your 4-H Colours Day.

Show Your 4-H Colours Day is 4-H’s biggest annual event here in Canada. Every year in early November, members and alumni alike don their 4-H green to come together to spread awareness about 4-H and support the positive impacts the 4‑H program is making here in Canada and abroad. The event also kicks off the month-long awareness campaign where youth members, volunteer leaders, alumni, 4-H friends and supporters demonstrate their pride in the good work of 4-H.

In celebration of Show Your 4-H Colours Day, landmarks from coast to coast to coast will be lighting up in green tonight — from Halifax City Hall in the east to the Shaw Centre here in Ottawa, and from the CN Tower in Toronto all the way out west to Port Coquitlam City Hall.

For over a century, 4-H clubs across this country have been some of the most highly respected youth development organizations in Canada and around the world. Their goal is to help young Canadians learn to do by doing in a safe, inclusive and fun environment. Today, the organization is responsible for 23,000 youth members aged 6 to 25 and 8,700 volunteers in 1,800 clubs across this country.

As an alumnus and lifelong supporter of 4-H, the annual Show Your 4-H Colours Day is a chance for me to share my respect, admiration for and commitment to the 4-H program in this chamber. As I have previously highlighted, I would not be sitting in this chamber today if it weren’t for the skills and experiences that I gained through this important leadership development program.

4-H has been an integral part of the Canadian community for over 100 years, with the simple mission of helping develop the potential of young people across this country to ensure they have the tools they need to become responsible, caring, contributing adults and community leaders.

I believe that the sense of community and interest in making our world a better place to support our youth is why this program continues to thrive and survive.

4-H members pledge their heads to clearer thinking, their hearts to greater loyalty, their hands to larger service and their health to better living for their club, their community, their country and their world. For me, part of what it means to be Canadian is embodied in this 4-H pledge.

Whether or not you are personally connected to this wonderful organization, I hope you will take the time today to celebrate Show Your 4-H Colours Day with me.

Thank you. Meegwetch.