Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a commencement speech Wednesday morning at Richcraft Hall to congratulate the graduating class of 2020.
Due to COVID-19, graduation ceremonies across the country were delayed or cancelled as physical distancing measures increased. Wednesday marked the original date of the June convocation ceremony at Carleton University.
Instead of addressing the graduating class in-person, Trudeau was joined by four masked students due to social distancing measures. The address was streamed to be viewed nationwide.
“Congratulations are in order, you’ve worked so hard for so many years to get to graduation day and you should all be very proud of yourselves, but let’s be real, this day is nothing like you imagined it to be,” Prime Minister Trudeau said shortly after taking the podium.
The commencement speech is the latest in Prime Minister Trudeau’s near-daily nationwide addresses regarding COVID-19, which began on March 11. In addition to the sombre backdrop of a global pandemic, his speech also came in the wake of hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in cities across the United States, Canada and much of the world to protest police brutality and racism.
Although students are facing many challenges, Prime Minister Trudeau encouraged the graduating class to fight for what they think is right.
“You marched for climate change, you had the courage to say ‘me too,’ you pushed us along the road to reconciliation, you stood up because Black lives matter,” he said. “You demanded the freedom to love and be loved — to be who you are.”
“I am worried about [COVID-19], like everyone — it’s something that affects all of our futures,” Oullet said.
Although she will be entering an uncertain economy, Oullet said she also has hope.
“In agriculture, I think it is one of the good domains for graduating in these circumstances, because we still need to eat three times a day,” she said.
Prime Minister Trudeau also spoke alongside Carleton graduate student, Jordan Gray, who detailed the racial barriers faced by students.
“It is not always easy to succeed when discretion within the academy and beyond favours those who are not Black, not Indigenous, and not people of colour,” Gray said.
After addressing the nation and graduating students across the country, Prime Minister Trudeau also spoke at length to the audience, including Eliezer Ake, a Carleton University graduate student who talked with the Prime Minister about the importance of feeling accepted for who you are.
“Our generation is pleased to have a young Prime Minister who is willing to echo the voice of the unheard and the minorities,” Ake said. “I got to share my personal experiences as a Black man studying in Tunisia [where] I experienced negrophobia in a very brutal way at a very young age for so long.”
“Canada has felt like a haven of peace,” he added.
With the cancellation of dozens of events throughout the city, including June convocation, having a virtual ceremony and televised speeches is important to Oullet.
“I was really surprised by these speeches, I think they were really good, they blended well with everything that is happening in the world.”
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
