Leaders for today
 
Guest speaker Justin Trudeau reminds high-achieving young Portuguese Canadians that their activism creates `new habits, new models and new paradigms' for the future
Nov. 21, 2006. 01:00 AM
ISABEL TEOTONIO, Toronto Star
STAFF REPORTER

It was one of the more remarkable moments in an already remarkable evening.

There they were, a group of 25 shy Portuguese-Canadian students at a swanky gala event stacked with the who's who of the Portuguese community, listening to keynote speaker Justin Trudeau tell them that they are the leaders of today.

"It's easy to fall into saying they're our leaders of tomorrow, but they're our leaders of today," Trudeau told the crowd of about 500 gathered Nov. 9 for the annual scholarship awards dinner hosted by the Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and Professionals.

"We need our young people to know they can change the world," said Trudeau, encouraging the high school, college and university students to combat global issues of poverty, AIDS and global warming with the choices they make in their everyday lives. Buy fair trade coffee, ride your bike, buy a hybrid car, he suggested.

"This wave of youth stepping up and knowing that differences need to be made is really heartening," he told the packed ballroom, which included guests such as MP Mario Silva, MPP Peter Fonseca and Consul General of Portugal Maria Amelia de Paiva. "These young people are where our new habits, new models and new paradigms will come from."

It was an empowering message for the students — one that carried extra weight coming from Trudeau, whose prime minister father, Pierre, remains one of the community's most beloved national leaders.

"That was the moment that most struck a chord for me," said Sarah Faria, 19, a medical science student with an A+ average at the University of Western Ontario. "I was really moved by (Trudeau) telling us we're the future and it's our responsibility to carry Canada into the future.

"It was quite daunting because we were surrounded by all these successful people, yet we're the ones being recognized," said Faria, referring to the presence of many of the Portuguese community's most recognizable leaders — dignitaries, doctors, engineers, professors, lawyers and business people.

Her sentiments were echoed by Liliana Ferreira, 25, who's now in her first year at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School.

"When he said that we're the leaders of today, it made me sit up straight and feel a little bit taller — to know that I do have the power and I can do something now," she said. "We do have the power, but sometimes people look at us almost as if we're kids."

One place where people were not looking at them like kids was at the scholarship event, held at the Mississauga Convention Centre.

"Tonight is about highlighting the many wonderful people doing amazingly well in so many disciplines," said Silva, referring to fields as diverse as medicine, criminology, nuclear engineering and French studies.

"This is about showcasing to the community and to the rest of the country that we have fabulous and talented young people," said Silva, himself a member of the federation.

The federation, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, strives to promote business activity, develop networking opportunities, boost political visibility and encourage academic excellence.

Its scholarship program is both the oldest and largest in the Portuguese community. In the past five years alone, more than 100 scholarships totalling more than $250,000 have been given to extraordinary high school, college and university students of Portuguese descent. This year, the federation disbursed $52,000 to students from across the country.

An external selection committee, made up of five university professors, a college administrator and a high school teacher and department head, selected the brightest scholars from 230 applications.

"These students are top of their class and I think they need more exposure because the success in this room is unbelievable," said Cidalia Faria, a federation board member and co-chair of the scholarship committee.

"The calibre of applications was outstanding. To be competitive you needed an A average," said Faria, an Assistant Crown attorney at the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The sold-out event was a reflection of the fact that the community is embracing education, said Julio de Jesus, also co-chair of the scholarship committee.

"Before, it was hard to get people out to these events, and the fact that we've got 500 people is great," said de Jesus, a vice-president with CIBC and former scholarship recipient. "The immigrants who came 50 years ago left (Portugal) for economic reasons and because of the political regime, and when they came education wasn't a focus, but their children and their children's children look at education differently."

De Paiva, a former teacher and now Portugal's consul general in Toronto, said it is important for the community to continue reinforcing the message that education is key to attaining what one wants, both personally and professionally.

"When people say that it takes a village to raise a child, that's very true," she said. "We are all needed for these people to achieve success. It's the future of our community that is at stake."