SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Mathieu Caron

Honourable senators, I’m pleased to pay tribute to my new friend, Mathieu Caron, who is here in the gallery.

Mathieu Caron is an ambitious young adult from Quebec with autism whose mission is to connect with people.

Through his atypical interviews, where people are at the heart of every conversation, Mathieu helps us to learn more about the daily lives of famous and not-so-famous people.

The pandemic and the impact it had on our interactions with others were what prompted Mathieu to start this new project. Since then, he has interviewed an impressive list of public figures, including Geoff Molson, Ricardo, Christiane Germain, Jean-Yves Duclos and Véronique Cloutier.

Mathieu’s interviews are unconventional, touching and inspiring and they remind us not to take ourselves too seriously, that life is beautiful and that people are good. Mathieu was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal. He is a very empathetic and talented young man.

When Mathieu reached out to conduct an interview, I accepted immediately since I have been a long-time supporter of the autism community.

Mathieu and I had a wonderful time this morning. This may surprise some, but I even tried to remove my tie — mind you, I didn’t succeed, but they tried hard.

Mathieu was exceedingly well prepared. He had insightful questions but also made sure to make our chat fun and entertaining. Quick on his feet, agile and witty, Mathieu is a talented interviewer who listens carefully and understands his subject.

Mathieu is also a leader in the autism community. He will be one of the keynote speakers at an event taking place this month at the Giant Steps Centre called Neurodiversity in Action: Voices, Evidence, Inclusion. Giant Steps is a school and a world leader in autism inclusion with which I have been involved for a long time.

Honourable senators, please join me in celebrating neurodiversity in all its forms.

Let us pay tribute to Mathieu Caron, who is raising public awareness about autism and who recently reminded me of the following;

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

Let’s accept our uniqueness and our differences.

Thank you.