Thunder Bay Campus — Ceremony #1
Friday, May 27, 2016 (2:00PM)
Mr. Chancellor.
Graduands.
Family.
Friends.
Faculty and staff.
Distinguished guests.
Seated on this stage are tomorrow's physicians, business leaders, engineers, and lawyers.
They are the people who will heal others, they are the people who will grow our region's economy, they are the people who will design and build the tools and structures of tomorrow, and they are the people who will bring justice to those who need it.
Ladies and gentlemen, while I suspect that you have already been doing so since these ceremonies began, I invite you to take another long look at these graduands.
They will never be the same after today.
Because of them, our world will never be the same — It will be better.
Graduands.
Each of you has worked so very hard for this day.
You are, quite literally, steps from a watershed moment in your life.
You will hear your name, you will shake the hand of our Chancellor, and then you will take hold of your hard earned University degree.
It is the proud end to an exceptional chapter of your life's story.
Your most recent years have been spent seeking knowledge, obtaining knowledge, questioning knowledge, and gaining wisdom.
You have been challenged, you have struggled, and you have overcome.
While helping to prepare you for your future, our University has also achieved so much in this past year.
In 2015, Lakehead University was ranked Canada's #1 research university in its category:
A distinction affirming that we are providing our students the education and tools they need in order to be at the forefront of innovation and discovery.
A distinction affirming that our faculty are generating knowledge, and disseminating it to our students and the world.
Our Faculty of Engineering has been producing award-winning students for decades.
Last November, a team of chemical engineering students took first place in the SNC-Lavalin Undergraduate Plant Design competition with their DESIGN OF a facility that directs waste plastics away from landfills by converting them into high-value products.
Our civil engineering students consistently outperform universities from around the world.
For the third year in a row, our team of Civil Engineering students placed first at the Regional Qualifier Student Steel Bridge Competition, qualifying them to compete in the National Competition.
Our students succeed, not only because they are trained in the technical aspects of engineering — they succeed because they are educated in the ethical and social challenges they will encounter.
This year, our Faculty of Business Administration gave our University, our students,
and our thousands of alumni around the world one more thing to be proud of — the faculty's focus on excellence has earned it a very special designation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the much coveted AACSB accreditation.
It took over 6 years and the resolve of countless students, faculty, and Northwestern Ontario business community members working together towards this shared goal.
Only 5% of the world's business schools carry this highly-prized designation, and now all our Faculty of Business Administration graduates can add this accreditation to their resumés.
Lakehead is taking the lead in providing access to justice, from sea to sea to sea — to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples whose access to the law is limited or unreachable.
At this Convocation ceremony, we are honoured to be celebrating the graduation of our Charter Class of students from the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.
Our unique Faculty of Law was born and shaped by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders.
Those leaders established it as a place where we now focus legal professionals in the areas of Aboriginal Law, Natural Resources Law, and sole practitioner and Small Firm practices.
This year, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada confirmed full approval of the Faculty's Juris Doctor program.
This marks the faculty's transition from a newly-minted JD program, to one that is fully accredited, and recognized as one of Canada's common-law schools.
And this year, our faculty welcomed its new Dean, Professor Angelique EagleWoman — the first female Aboriginal Dean of Law in Canada.
Like our Faculty of Law, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine sets itself apart.
Last Fall, NOSM celebrated its 10th anniversary.
NOSM has set itself apart because of its partnerships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and organizations; and, has set the standard for socially accountable medical education.
After 10 exceptional years, NOSM students in medicine, dietetics, and rehabilitation sciences, train in more than 90 communities covering over 820,000 square kilometres.
92% of NOSM medical students are from Northern Ontario. The remaining 8% are from other rural and remote areas of Canada.
94% of NOSM MD graduates who completed their residency with NOSM are now practicing in Northern Ontario.
This year, As in previous years, all NOSM students were matched to residency in the first round of the Canadian Residents Matching Service — a level of matching success that has not happened in any other medical school in Canada for over 20 years, and a clear sign that Canadian residency programs want NOSM graduates.
Throughout these accomplishments, faculty, staff and students at Lakehead have sought knowledge, obtained knowledge, questioned knowledge, and gained wisdom.
These most recent years of Canada's history have also been about seeking knowledge, obtaining knowledge, questioning knowledge, and gaining wisdom.
Earlier, I acknowledged the traditional Aboriginal lands upon which this auditorium,
our University, and the great city of Thunder Bay, reside.
I would like to take this moment to acknowledge that other exceptional individuals could have walked across this stage, however they were never given the chance.
Their stories came to an end in residential schools far from their families, and far from hope.
Those marked by this period in our history continue to face challenges, and continue to struggle.
Thanks to the commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission — The Honourable Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair (now Senator Sinclair); Dr. Marie Wilson; and Chief Wilton Littlechild — we now have an historic Report filled with many of those lost stories.
Those stories are of survivors who were, and are, challenged; of survivors who did, and continue to, struggle; and of survivors who have yet to overcome.
Indeed, the publication of that Report marked a watershed moment in our country's history.
During Senator Sinclair's remarks about the Report, he said, "We owe it to each other to build a Canada based on our shared future — a future of healing and trust."
Six months ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls for action in its Report.
Even before the release of that milestone Report, Lakehead university took steps towards reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.
We did so by becoming the first post-secondary institution in Canada to require that all undergraduate programmes include the equivalent of 18 hours of Aboriginal content.
We did this, not only because 11% of our students self-identify as Aboriginal, but because we all benefit from having a deeper understanding and respect for our diverse fellow citizens.
I cannot think of a better group of people to entrust our shared future than the graduands we are celebrating today.
Lakehead University is proud to be an inclusive, safe place that welcomes and nurtures each and every student within our rich and diverse university community.
That invaluable experience has made our graduates ready to be leaders in a world rich with diversity.
Graduands, you are about to show everyone in this auditorium, and everyone in this world, not only what you are capable of, but what all of you, and all of us, can achieve together.
Our graduates — who count themselves among our almost 60,000 alumni around the world — have proven that they have various exceptional abilities:
- to be the impetus for change in the world of tomorrow,
- to be the impetus for challenging and seeking truths,
- and to be the impetus for reconciliation between all peoples.
As we move from the Truth to the Reconciliation process with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit,
We as a community, and we as a university, must also move from seeking knowledge to challenging knowledge; from gaining knowledge to exercising wisdom; and from learning the Truth to practicing Reconciliation.
The wisdom we must all gain will be to never repeat the mistakes of the past, and contribute to reconciliation and justice in the future.
Graduands, I am joined by a great number of people who are very proud of you, today.
On behalf of all of them, congratulations to each and every one of you.
Because of you, our world will never be the same — It will only be better.
Thank you.