Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As I sit down to write this message to you, I find myself energized as I contemplate what has been accomplished and what we are looking forward to this year. As the Sauvé Program enters its seventh year, we are proud to remind you that to date we have welcomed 87 outstanding Scholars from 44 countries.
Having said our fond farewells to last year’s cohort in May and June, we were already busy planning for the arrival of the Baker’s Dozen of 2009-2010. And communicating with the 13 incoming Scholars was not always easy, as they traveled to remote locales in Rwanda, South America, Japan …. However, they have all arrived and are making themselves at home in Jeanne Sauvé House, McGill and Montreal. I am absolutely thrilled to introduce to you the exceptional, talented young people who will be with us this year. Please read all about them on the Current Sauvé Scholars web page.
The first week was packed with activities, including a welcome barbecue with Board members and staff, presentations by each Scholar of his or her proposed project and activities during the Program, and a full day of orientation at McGill. The Scholars’ presentations, which were grouped by theme and took place over three days, is a new and very successful format that introduces the Scholars’ proposed projects to their peer group, Board members, staff, Academic Mentors and partners of the Program; at the end of the year, there will be more formal, public presentations of the outcomes. The traditional canoe trip concluded the first busy week, offering everyone a bit of an adventure away from the fast pace and heat of Montreal before the plunge into the academic year.
Hard to believe that as we are still getting this year’s Scholars settled in, it is time to launch the Call for Applications for the 2010-2011 cohort; published on our website just before Labour Day weekend, it is underway. We have introduced some changes to the process, the most important of which is that each applicant must be formally nominated. You can read all about it on our website, and we encourage you to identify (and nominate!) good candidates.
The year ahead promises to be an exciting one. Each Scholar is privileged to have an outstanding Academic Mentor with expertise that is highly relevant to the Scholar’s field of enquiry. I believe that the fact that three of this year’s Mentors also were Mentors last year – and three more have been Mentors in previous years – is an indication of the rewarding relationship that is built through this initiative.
Another piece of good news. McGill has agreed to accept our Scholars in the Centre for Continuing Education, which, in addition to a wide variety of programs and courses, offers seminars and workshops geared towards professional and personal development. This is in line with the growing focus of the Program on professional development. Moreover, as we strengthen our ties with community partners such as the McConnell Foundation and Canada World Youth, more professional possibilities (through internships and apprenticeships) are opening up.
I am very proud to announce that during the fall term we will welcome Professor Philip Oxhorn as our first Visiting Fellow at Jeanne Sauvé House. Professor Oxhorn is the Founding Director of McGill University’s Institute for the Study of International Development and Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Latin American Research Review. A former Associate Dean (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) at McGill, his research focuses on the comparative study of civil society and its role in supporting democratic regimes, particularly in Latin America. I know he will serve as a tremendous resource for the Scholars, and indeed for all of us involved in the Program.
A full program of activities will take us right up to December 6 when everyone disperses for the holiday season – and pre-selection of candidates for next year’s Program gets under way. While it will be modified as opportunities arise, I would like to share some highlights of the fall program beyond the professional development workshops as well as French and Media Club activities that take place in Jeanne Sauvé House. Of course, in addition to the events below, throughout the fall term, the Scholars are invited to attend stimulating lectures and events in the context of the External Speakers Program, organized by The Fraser Institute ; The Institute for Research on Public Policy ; The Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM) and The Montreal Economic Institute.
September is already full of great events including the informal teas and private meetings with individual Board members and other guests of special interest to the Scholars. We look forward to welcome presentations by representatives of the three levels of government: Marc Garneau, Canada’s first astronaut and the federal Member of Parliament for the riding in which the Sauvé Foundation is located; Yolande James, the youthful (barely older than the Scholars) Quebec Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities, and senior representatives of Montreal International, the focal point for Montreal’s international community. At the Opening Reception on September 16th, our guest of honour, McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum, formally welcomed this year’s Scholars. On the 17th, Jeanne Sauvé House hosted a reception for Canadian Lawyers Abroad with honoured guest Flora Terah, a Kenyan Parliamentary candidate, human rights advocate and author.
We are looking forward to launching a new monthly Speakers Series which will be open to invited members of the McGill and broader community. The series kicks off on September 22nd with Gérald Sapey, International President of Reporters sans frontiers/Reporters without Borders. The exciting conclusion to the month will be a reception in honour of Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai and fellow environmental advocate Dr. David Suzuki.
October’s program is even more varied. This year’s Scholars will again have the opportunity to attend the McGill Conference on Global Security “Impacts of global financial turmoil on food security” (Oct 5-7). There will be the usual celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving on the 12th and a seasonal apple-picking day. On the 21st, led by Sauvé alumnus Guillaume Lavoie, we head to Québec City to attend a session of the Assemblée nationale (the provincial parliament). We also look forward to a private session with the Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada, who will speak on the global economy as well as his work regarding Aboriginal education and entrepreneurship and as Co-Chair – with Wangari Maathai – of the Governing Council of the Congo Basin Forest Fund. And on the 28th, we are honored to welcome Senator Roméo Dallaire to Sauvé House for a special reception in recognition of the recent launch of the “Will to Intervene” report.
Headlining the November calendar is our Chairman’s invitation to view a National Hockey League game from the Dundee corporate box and the Scholars’ participation in the Trudeau Foundation Conference in Ottawa. Before we know it, we will be preparing for the annual Holiday Party on December 3rd – and you will be hearing from me again! Meantime, watch the Newsroom on our website for announcements and news of the Scholars’ activities.
Regards,
Désirée McGraw
Executive Director
Jeanne Sauvé Foundation and Sauvé Scholars Foundation
“Leaders must dream of changing the world.
They must have an inspired vision of the changes they want to make and be prepared to consecrate all
their energy to that purpose. A capacity to communicate their objectives is indispensable to sustain
the enthusiasm of their collaborators and their perseverance in action.”
— The Right Honourable Jeanne Sauvé, Opening Speech to the National Conference for Young Leaders, June 2-8, 1991
