Honourable senators, Senator LaBoucane-Benson and I have the great pleasure of hosting these young people you see in the gallery today. Unfortunately, some had to catch buses home.

They are visiting us from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg reserve, my home community, and from Immaculata High School here in Ottawa. I feel very proud of these young people. Although it is only a few hours away according to the map, Parliament and all its trappings can seem a world away. For a kid from Maniwaki, it can seem like an alien planet.

With this visit today, I hope our visitors can see that it is not really that alien at all. At its most basic level, this is a place where people need to talk. Yes, it looks fancy and strange, the doors and the floors, the stairs and the chairs — this is, indeed, a unique physical environment — but, beauty aside, it is also just a workplace like any other. People gather here to try to solve problems. We approach problems just as all students approach school projects or personal goals: by learning as much as one can about an issue and then doing one’s best to find possible solutions.

Many young people like the idea of becoming a parliamentarian, a city councillor or a chief, but they keep it private. No one wants to be ridiculed for having such ambitions or be accused of being grandiose. It can sometimes be wise to keep one’s dreams private for a time, but don’t let those dreams die. Instead, it is important to keep that fire burning and learn all you can about jobs in which you can contribute the way you want to. If anyone feels a calling to this place, to this kind of work, protect and nurture that impulse.

I welcome these students in this chamber, as do all my colleagues. They sit up there today. One day, they may be sitting down here looking up at the gallery at the next generation of young people eager to contribute to the betterment of Canada.

Finally, a special thank you to the teachers at Kitigan Zibi School and Immaculata High School. We have all been teenagers and created our share of drama — some more than others. No doubt we exasperated our teachers with some of our antics and our variable attention spans. We all owe a big debt to the teachers in our lives who offered patience, kindness and set high standards for us to reach.

On behalf of all my colleagues, I want to acknowledge these teachers and thank them for their dedication and perseverance. To the students of Kitigan Zibi, pìjàshig.