观点 国会议员刘舒云：“参政能将世界变得更美好”

编者按：加拿大最年轻的女性国会议员、现年22岁的刘舒云（Laurin Liu）上月底从魁北克到多伦多出席展望青年领袖培训计划毕业晚宴，并担任主题演讲嘉宾。

 

她在演讲中谈到她从政的原因：“我们（四位当选为国会议员的麦吉尔大学学生）只是和你们一样的年轻人：对我们周围的世界充满感情，并坚信参政能将世界变得更美好。”

 

她在演讲中谈到她作为一个移民后代的成长经历：“我很幸运能享受到两个世界的优越之处：很幸运能随着一个很特别的文化成长，同时能生活在世界上最民主、文化最多元的国家之一。”

 

她谈到多元文化的益处：“我在这种认知中成长：多元性不应该分化我们，多元性应该令我们变得更了解其它文化，更富有同情心，更有适应力。”

 

她鼓励年轻人为创造一个美好的加拿大而努力：“年轻人有勇气，我们有远大的理想。我们需要共同努力，尽我们最大的努力，创造一个更繁荣的加拿大，一个每个人都有更好生活的加拿大。”

 

她给予年轻人的建议是：“做你热爱的事，你的职业自然会成功。”

 

以下是她发言的全文：

 

I’d like to thank the organizers, volunteers and sponsors of Vision Youth. I would also like to thank Eric Li, chair of Vision Youth -- affectionately known to participants as Uncle Eric -- for the kind invitation. While reading up on Vision Youth, I was impressed by the range of goals and skills that the program aims to develop. I have no doubt that these are skills that will help you become leaders in your communities today, and in your workplaces in the future.

 

I was elected to the House of Commons in 2011, when the NDP, to everyone’s surprise, swept 59 seats in Quebec. If you were following the news at the time, you might have heard of what the media called the “McGill Four”. Not to be confused with the Fantastic Four: instead of having super powers, we were merely young folks like you: passionate about the world around us and convinced that getting involved in politics was a way that we could change things for the better.

 

Many people who know of me know that I am the youngest woman to be elected to the House of Commons in Canadian history, but less people know that I am also the first MP of Chinese origin to be elected in Quebec.

 

Over the course of my lifetime and my political involvement, I’ve had to repeatedly ask myself, What does it mean to be a Chinese-Canadian?

 

The Chinese community’s experience in Canada stretches back at least 150 years. Chinese immigrants to Canada became workers who constructed a particularly perilous part of the Canadian Pacific Railway at the end of the 19th century. Sino-Canadians also displayed patriotism in voluntarily enrolling in the Canadian army during the Second World War, even though the federal government continued to refuse them the right to vote, a right that was only granted in 1947. Our history has also been scarred by the legacy of the Chinese head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. It wasn’t until 2006 that the government formally apologized for past injustices.

 

But when we think about the history of Chinese people in Canada, should we only think of this tumultuous history? Or should we also look at the great achievements of those who have marked Canadian history? Among the historical injustices, we are able to celebrate the legacies of Chinese-Canadians.

 

Chinese Canadians such as Margaret Jean Gee, who became in 1954 the first Chinese Canadian woman lawyer admitted to the bar in Canada. She was also the first Chinese Canadian woman Pilot Officer (Reserves) in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

 

Chinese Canadians who made a name for themselves in history for their athletic excellence, such as Norman Kwong, who was selected as Canada's Athlete of the Year in 1955 and who spent 14 seasons with footballs teams in Calgary and Edmonton.

 

We can also mention Chinese-Canadians who excelled in the arts, such as Evelyn Lau, who, in 1990, became the youngest Canadian to be nominated for a Governor General's Award for Poetry, at age 21.

 

Earlier this month, a documentary called Being Chinese in Quebec premiered in Montreal. The film’s two producers toured the province of Quebec, from Montreal to Gaspésie, speaking to Chinese-Quebecers, whether they be convenience store owners, historians or lawyers.

 

Instead of telling us more about Chinese people living in Quebec, the documentary made us realize that we know very little. That is, instead of drawing similarities between people of Chinese origin living in Quebec, I believe that the documentary showed us the expanse to which these communities are diverse, and that the reality of a Chinese person living in Montreal is very different from that of one living in Rimouski.

 

My parents moved to Canada from Guangzhou in the 1980s, so that my dad could pursue a doctoral degree in biology. Being Canadian-born, my experience is very different from that of my parents.

 

Difference is clearly written on my face, but in my mind, I am clearly a Canadian and a Quebecer, first and foremost. So does that make me as Asian as a shrimp dumpling, or as white as General Tao?

 

I was extremely lucky to be able to have the best of both worlds: the privilege of growing up with a unique culture while benefitting from the advantages of living in one of the most democratic and multicultural countries in the world.

 

And I grew up with the understanding that diversity shouldn’t divide us. It should make us more aware, more compassionate, more adaptable.

 

It’s become clear to me that there is no one answer to what it means to be Chinese-Canadian, there are multiple – and no answer is wrong. But besides being a Chinese-Canadian, I share another common quality with many of you in this room. It was not so long ago that I was a high school or college student, like you. No doubt, you’ve asked yourselves, like I have, What does it mean to be a young person in Canada?

 

As young people in Canada, we have a vital stake in the future. Climate change? We’ll be living through it’s effects. Economic deficit? We’re the ones who will be paying it off. Social inequality? We will be the ones who will bear the future burden.

 

Over the past month, under this majority Conservative government, we’ve seen protections for lakes and rivers removed. Protections taken away for fish habitat. Canadian scientists muzzled, unable to talk about their findings to the public. Canada’s withdrawal from Kyoto: without any consultation or accountability. Trade deals signed with governments with lower environmental protections.

 

Is this the Canada that we want to inherit? I've traveled the country and talked to young Canadians in university campuses and on the doorstep. One thing is clear: Canadian youth are in favour of development, as long as it's sustainable development. Young people are in favour of trade, as long as it's fair trade. The stakes are high, and we need to be given a place at the negotiating table.

 

In the past few months, youth unemployment has reached historic heights. Many recent graduates I know are having trouble paying off their student loans. Gone are the days when university graduates had a good chance of having a well-paying job and taking out a mortgage when they leave school.

 

Meanwhile, the Conservative government is doing nothing to reduce student debt and tackle youth unemployment, and we continue to lose thousands of well-paying jobs across the country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is leaving young people with more debt than ever: environmental debt, social debt, economic debt.

 

But young people have guts, and we have grand visions. And we need to work together to do everything we can to create a Canada that is more prosperous, as long as it's more prosperous for everyone.

 

In keynote speeches such as these, it's almost compulsory for the speaker to impart some advice and words of wisdom. I’m not going to purport to be any wiser than you are, but I think that we are all wiser than we think. So here is some advice that you can take or leave.

 

Many of you already have a clear idea of the career that you will want to pursue in life and of which skills you want to develop. Some of you don’t, and that’s OK -- neither did I, at your age. Focus on doing something that you’re passionate about, and the rest of your career will fall into place.

 

With regards to time management: often, we wrongly believe that success results from the amount of time we put in, instead of the kind of time we put in. Writing on workaholics, Arianna Huffington once said, “I once had dinner with a man who bragged to me that he'd only gotten four hours of sleep the previous night. It was not easy to resist the temptation to tell him that he might have been a lot more interesting if he'd gotten five.”

 

And finally, find some mentors that you can trust for career and for life advice, and with whom you can develop long-term relationships. You’ll find that the advice you get can be invaluable.

 

Thank you again for the kind invitation to speak tonight, and I wish all the participants of Vision Youth much success in the future. And as for working towards a collective future that is greener, more just, and more prosperous: let’s work together and get the job done.

 

Thank you.