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Song: St Elmos Fire (Man in Motion) by John Parr
Everytime we reach an obstacle we believe with all our heart,
somehow, some way, there's a way over it
under it, around it,
or through it.
Hey guys, how are ya?
Before we hear from you, we'd like to invite Larry McCloskey
to give us a little background on the dedication we have planned today
in honour of the 25th Anniversary of your Man in Motion Tour.
So we'd like to welcome Larry McCloskey.
I'm going to talk a little bit about David Fels.
You know you ask someone to cut firewood for you and
you're about to see what the product is.
I've been a fan of David Fels' work for about 25 years.
He had a piece in the Robertson Hall many, many years ago that was jaw dropping.
Currently has one in the library,
and I can't help but go by it every time I go in the library.
I got to know him, went to his studio about 5 years ago,
and self interest prevailed and he has donated on permanent loan,
and he may quibble on the time frame,
a piece to the Paul Menton Centre
and it is among the most beautiful wood sculpture I've ever seen.
David has done about 300 sculptures.
This was by far the most challenging.
There was an old tree in old Ottawa South,
and it has stood for about 300 years on the shores of the Rideau River.
So I had this thought about trying to give it another 300 years
transformed on the banks of the Rideau River at Carleton University.
Contacted the City of Ottawa,
Mr. David Barkley,
which has begun a beautiful partnership with the City of Ottawa,
Carleton University and David Fels.
This was an extraordinarily complex work.
Not only is it stunningly beautiful but this tree was completely hollow.
It should have fallen down years ago, and it's a marvel that had not.
But David had to work with something with no room for error.
And the consistency and density of this wood ranged from
candy-floss to granite stone, and I've learned that actually
working with wood is actually far more difficult than working with stone.
So, I'd like to introduce to you at this point,
probably the world's greatest sculptor
and a heck of a nice guy as well, Mr. David Fels.
Thank you very much for that and thanks for the introduction.
I don't usually speak with my words,
I speak with my forms, so I'll just briefly introduce the sculpture.
The concept behind the sculpture is called 'Sailing Through Time',
and basically when you go sailing you can't control how the wind blows
but you always use it to it's best advantage.
And 'Sailing Through Time' is basically,
we can't control everything that happens to us
but we can use everything to our best advantage.
So thank you for that, and the sculpture will be introduced.
Thanks David. It's an amazing piece, I just got to see it today
and it's absolutely spectacular, and Rick we originally hoped to
have it here, to unveil it here at the Bell Theatre, along with our Mayor and
our distinguished President.
But it's actually, it's just too big to do,
and you'll see it when you see it...
and you saw it sort of in the introduction that we showed you those pictures.
It's absolutely enormous, and even though it is so enormous
it's also very fragile as well.
So we couldn't do that, but we're going to unveil it virtually, I guess.
You'll see some pictures here.
David has been working nearly every day for...
since the 25th Anniversary Relay began on August 24th,
and he just I think finished carving it... was it today?...
yesterday? So, right on schedule.
Like a good journalist. Right on deadline.
So, I want to read the dedication I guess,
and present 'Sailing Through Time'.
**** READ Inscription (on screen)****
>> Madame President, our distinguished guest of honour Rick Hansen,
ladies and gentlemen, madames et monsieurs.
C'est vraiment un plaisir pour moi, comme Mayor de la ville d'Ottawa,
de donnez quelques mots de bienvenue a Rick Hansen.
I'm also very pleased to be here as a Carleton graduate
to welcome Rick Hansen to Carleton University
and to celebrate the University’s commitment to accessibility.
It's great to back at my Alma Matter and I'd like to thank Dr. Runte very much
for inviting me to introduce Rick Hansen, a true Canadian hero.
Carleton has always been a welcoming and inclusive University,
and it's so encouraging to see this continuation of commitment
to accessibility grow both in terms of physical access, and educational support.
[French] L'Université Carleton a toujours était une Université accueillante et inclusive.
The Reasearch Education in Accessibility and Design Institute
will build on Carleton’s strong reputation as a leader in this area.
I want to extend my congratulations to Carleton on this initiative and
thank the University on it's outstanding vision in the area of accessibility.
I also want to congratulate our artist David,
and I also in absentia want to thank David Chernushenko
who was the City Councilor who helped organize
the Brighton Beach Oak so that it could be, part of it could be,
sculpted into this beautiful piece of art
that is going to be on display for generations to come.
David Chernushenko, my colleague, worked very hard with the neighborhood
to ensure that we could have this wonderful virtual unveiling today.
Today I have the honour of introducing our guest of honour,
Mr. Rick Hansen.
Rick is in Ottawa as part of the 'Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay'.
And it's hard to believe that it's been 25 years.
I've been reminding Rick and Amanda that I had the opportunity to meet them;
I was a young graduate of Carleton University
working for the Speaker of the House of Commons when he came through Ottawa
and we hosted a reception on Parliament Hill.
And it was, for all the politicians,
they were all rushing over wanting to get their picture with you
because you were more popular than the politicians.
and that's still the case, I can tell you.
But it was really, it was you know, in Canada, unlike some other countries,
we don't have as many heroes.
We think of people like Terry Fox,
and we also think of people like you, Rick Hansen
for the work that you did to bring recognition to those individuals
who face challenges in their lives.
And the fact that you and your World Tour travelled
more than 40 000KM, through 34 Countries
in 26 months to raise awareness about the potential
of people with disabilities,
create accessible and inclusive communities,
and to find a cure for spinal cord research... injuries rather.
This is the equivalent of completing 3 marathons each and every day.
Remarkable.
And your incredible journey inspired an entire Country
and the entire world, and made us believe that one person can,
in fact, make a big difference.
Since the tour, Rick and the Rick Hansen Foundation continue to work
tirelessly towards positive change for a healthy and inclusive world,
and to improve the lives of those living with spinal cord injuries.
Throughout the year Rick has earned so many awards and recognitions.
There are too many to mention, but just some of highlights include
being named Canada's Disabled Athlete of the Year in 1979, 1980 and 1982;
being awarded the Lou Marsh Award as Canada's Outstanding Athlete
of the Year in 1983,
an honour which he shared that year with Wayne Gretzky;
The Companion of the Order of Canada in 1987;
and inducted in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Rick has been, and continues to be an inspiration for all Canadians.
[French] Rick a était, et continuer d'être une véritable source d'inspiration pour tout
le monde, et tout les citoyens, citoyennes de Canada.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Rick
and his tremendous work, and his entire team,
Amanda and the family and the team that have put together this
25th Anniversary Reunion Tour.
And also for your commitment to making not only our Country
but our entire place a better... or our entire world rather,
a better place to live.
So Rick thank you for being here at Carleton University.
Please give a very warm Ottawa and Carleton welcome to Rick Hansen.
>> Thank you. Wow! Hey thanks very much you guys.
It's just such an honour to be here.
Be back to Carleton and of course back to our Capital City.
Being in Ottawa is a real privilege, every time I've
had the chance to be here I continue to be inspired
in terms of what it means to be Canadian.
Having a chance to come and celebrate our 25th Anniversary
is a tremendous honour because it also reflects
the fact that life is a journey, it is not a destination.
And I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate that
David, then be able to see your incredible work of art, but also
your insightful theme 'Sailing Through Time',
and to be able to give that sense of...
being able to absolutely not control what happens to you,
but to be able to have sovereignty over our attitude
and how we view what happens to us and what we do with it is the key
to success in life.
And you know as a kid I grew up... my earliest memories
were of hiking, camping, fishing, and my whole life revolved
around physical activity and the use of my legs.
I had the crazy dreams of maybe one day,
you know, representing my Country at the Olympic games,
and you know, I knew exactly where I wanted to go and how to get there.
And then all of a sudden I was hitchhiking home from that fishing trip
with my buddy Don in the middle, and we were in the back of a pick-up truck.
The truck went around a rough gravel washboard corner,
it lost control and it flipped over and it threw me back first
against a steel tool box and
it shattered my spine and damaged my spinal cord.
I lost consciousness and I woke up about a minute or two later,
and I was propped up against the tool box and I wasn't able to move.
There was a searing pain in my back and I was trying to move my legs
and they wouldn't work.
I touched them, they were numb and they just wiggled like jelly.
You can imagine the catastrophic shock I was facing
as I dealt with that reality.
My fate was then told and discussed and delivered by a doctor
who, after he x-rayed me said that I damaged my spinal cord
and I'd never walk again.
They sent me down to a hospital where I was operated on two days later.
There were no spinal cord units at the time.
And I spent 4 months in a hospital, a very crude posture bed
where they literally had it on two pins
and they would flip you every three hours,
face down, face up, face down, face up...
And then there are moments when you are filled with such despair
you wonder if you have, and maybe you are
starting to give up the very thing that's most important in life,
and that is hope.
Times when I just thought there was nothing worth fighting for.
And in those darkest moments, you know you look for those
little victories, those moments when you think you can do something.
And for me it was maybe, perhaps, just thinking about celebrating
moving out of that stryker bed, that posture bed
and into a normal bed for my 16th birthday
which was just around the corner.
To be able to celebrate that ah, that 16th birthday though
was truly a glorious victory.
Actually, just a year or so ago,
one of my roommates who I had been sharing that room with
for the first time came by, and was cleaning his basement
and he came up with that photo and he dropped it off.
And that was a monumental step because at the end of the day
it was a long journey, but these little tiny victories are
the things that gives us hope and creates a momentum
that encourages us to keep going.
The winds of life blow you along but it's the desperate search for hope
and optimism, and moments of success that give us that sense of
momentum and thinking about what’s next.
For me what was next was then learning a life in a new world,
in a new form of transportation.
And back then in 1973,
the stigma of that piece of technology was, terrible.
It was a life of confinement.
The wheelchair was a stereotype.
It was something you never wanted to be associated with
because it was with pity, it was limitation, it was terrible.
But at the same time it was my new form of transportation.
It was a chance to able to be free.
To learn to kick it up and do wheelies, and to start thinking about
moving through the hospital, through the rehab.
Visiting the student nurses, which was one of my favorite things.
[laughs]
Oh, was that ever fun...
[laughter]
And of course learning also that life
wasn't just my own adventure it was,
it was actually a road travelled by others before you.
For me, my life was actually moved forward by incredible role models.
People like Stan Strong.
When I would complain about being in a hospital for 4 months,
he laughed.
He said "Rick, I was injured in 1938."
People with spinal cord injury didn't survive at that point.
I was in the hospital for 4 years.
When I got discharged, there were no ramps.
There were no rehab centers.
I had to deal with this incredibly difficult and challenging world."
But what Stan did for me is he demonstrated
when he wheeled into my life with this big cheesy grin on his face that,
it isn't what happens to you but what you do with it.
He carved a life for himself out of nothing.
He was able to see hope and possibility.
In the pain, in the suffering, in limitation,
he saw moments of beauty and that was what radiated from his soul.
And when I was with him I was infected, I was inspired
and I thought, "Hey, if he can do it, so can I".
He made me realize that nowhere in the definition of an athlete
does it say that you have to use your legs in order to be one.
I was able to have a chance to be able to focus on sport.
Stan was the team manager
and he actually encouraged me to go out and recruit new athletes.
And it turns out that I had dinner with a friend who knew about a friend
who just lost his leg to cancer, and he was at Simon Frasier University.
He was a Kinestheology Student, his name was Terry Fox.
I called him up that night and I said,
"Terry do you want to come out and play wheelchair basketball
with the Cabelcars team?' And he said,
'Absolutely'.
He showed up, we had this old 'Everest & Jennings 'chair,
not too dissimilar to the one you saw me doing the wheelie in.
Big heavy, 50 pound piece of technology, very, very limiting.
He hopped into the gym on one leg, still on chemotherapy at the time.
Shows you what kind of courage this young man had.
He sat in the chair, and he pushed and struggled,
and he could barely push.
You know he was pretty pathetic when I first looked at him
because when he shot, he barely touched the bottom of the rim.
But there was something inside of him that I saw during that practice.
That sort of intensity in his eyes, the fierce determination
and I knew it wasn't going to be long before he became one of the best
players on the team, and indeed he did.
More importantly we became great friends.
We trained together, we traveled together, we roomed together.
We shared hopes and dreams, and struggle and challenge,
and we had great laughs and he ultimately inspired me in a huge way.
What he made me realize was that some of the greatest
dreams in life are often killed because of fear of failure.
I had my own dream.
Starting to emerge, about maybe one day being a world champion.
To be the best I could be in wheelchair sport.
To then maybe pay it forward and think about
this crazy dream that seemed impossible which would be
maybe to wheel around the world and try to change attitudes
about how people viewed people with disabilities.
Encourage them to remove barriers.
But those dreams, you know they, they just don't happen,
you can speak about them, you can think about them
but first steps are often so important.
It's taking risks, and for me
that moment of crossing the threshold and winning a world title,
being at the Paralympic games, winning gold,
and being at the Olympic games in Los Angeles
seemed an absolute dream come true
was a special moment in feeling that sense of incredible
transition as those winds of time sailed through,
pushed me off into a direction that I was able to help navigate.
To be able to celebrate that moment, and feel so grateful,
so grateful to be a Canadian.
To be in a Country where a kid from Williams Lake can heal,
so many challenges and yet be surrounded by family and friends
and teachers and role models.
To go to University and to be inspired, to be the best I could be.
To be an athlete and to have Terry and Stan,
and my wife Amanda, my coach Tim, all being there with me and for me.
To be able to be in that moment, how precious.
How fortunate I was, and how powerful of a
force it is that when you're actually experiencing that,
did you know how much it means when you take time
and you think about 'what is it that you care about?
What is it that you think you can do in your own talent?
And what is it that you can do to make a difference and pay it forward?'
And for me it was time, it was time to stop talking about
wheeling around the world and actually start to do it.
In the 80's, at a time when the world was so large
and so disconnected, and so inaccessible.
The idea of no internet, no cell phone,
of how do you connect 34 Countries and 4 Continents to bring a message
around the world of hope,
and encourage a sense of action and even generate resources from that.
My team and I, we've been waving, and pulling together all this
support and we put all the equipment in that motor home and on the top
is that wooden crate with all my spare wheelchairs
in there that we brought to the Oak Ridge Mall.
We were going through that crowd,
on the top right hand corner you see the wooden crate.
And they followed me as I wheeled underneath this overpass
and they hit an overhead warning bar on chains,
warning them about that vehicle, and I can show you because it
was captured on National Television.
And that thing happened as they wheeled towards the
whole piece there is that they ended up coming to the top of the
motor home with the big wooden crate and
.... I guess that video is not available.
But the bottom line is that they went straight into the top overpass,
the box shattered in front of 200 well wishers,
it was on National Television.
Its wheelchair equipment scattered everywhere,
and everyone just gasped, and everything sort of stopped at that moment.
And you can imagine the confidence of those 200 well wishers at that moment...
they thought,
'this guy is going around the world in a wheelchair?...
He can't even get out of the parking lot!...
Good luck!' [laughter]
That's the way it works eh?
Every once in a while we have big dreams, we're not fully prepared
and we take those first awkward steps, we make mistakes and
then we find humour and we keep going and we learn.
Second day on the road,
0 degrees, pouring rain, sleet, snow.
113 Km a day of wheeling.
2nd wheeling session, I'm in the
actual back of the motor home and I'm injured,
tendonitis of the wrists and the elbows. Icepacks on my shoulders.
And I'm completely devastated and overwhelmed and thinking about quitting.
And then I reminded myself that there's no shame in walking away
but if you're going to, make sure that you have no regrets
and 'is there one more stroke left?'. And the answer was 'yah okay, one more'.
Talked myself out of that motor home.
Got into the cold steel chair. Put on the wet slimy gloves
and wheeled out from behind the protection of the motor home and
for the first blast of wind and took one more stroke
and one more stroke led to another to another,
to another kilometer, another kilometer and then
12 hours later it was another victory.
Another 113K done.
Second day finished, still in the hunt for my dream.
They were glad that I was able to talk myself into one more stroke.
And of course those moments were so overwhelming they
make you realize that it wasn't going to end there.
It was a constant barrage of ice packs and challenge and adversity,
but there was symbols of success that you look for
like there in Italy, and being at the Coliseum.
Who would've imagined thousands of years earlier
when that structure was being built this moment, this image, that spirit?
More importantly to meet young people everywhere from all cultures
and perspectives who were free from prejudice who could only see ability.
It made me realize that what we were doing was having an impact,
and it encouraged me to keep going.
So those moments, those symbols that you think about,
and to live, to be on the Great Wall of China,
to be reminded that there are no walls too big in life that can't be climbed.
To be able to be coming back across the Country.
To have thought about quitting and to have had my team
encourage me to have hope and have faith.
And the Canadians would respond and it was unbelievable.
From coast to coast 12, 000 kilometers over 9 months through
the middle of winter, after we had come here in Ottawa and
received so much support.
Adapting technology with special 4 wheel drive equipment
to be able continue in the ice and the snow.
Special skin sensors and insulated materials that would prevent frost bite.
And to be able to help us continue as winter threw almost everything it could.
And the response of people, and the thousands of people as we continued to
complete our journey, were just so overwhelming and moving.
And to know that we were making a difference.
That all that effort was worthwhile.
And as we got back to Oak Ridge Mall there was that sign that said
'Welcome Home Rick'.
I broke through the tape and I looked behind me and I said
"What the hecks that? The end is just the beginning?
What kind of a crazy marketing person put that up there anyway?"
You have to realize, I'm FINISHED, tour is over man!
[laughter]
Then I thought about it and I realized,
you know what they've probably got it figured out because
life is not a destination, it is a journey.
In every experience we have, we become inspired,
we become motivated, we learn, we grow, and it unfolds in
new vectors and directions that we couldn't have imagined.
How would I have imagined that I would be starting my journey, that Amanda and I
would have been married that fall, and that we would have our
3 amazing daughters; Emma, Alana, and Rebekah;
and they are the joy of our lives.
To give love, to receive it, to be on their adventure,
to be coaching, to be learning new things like to ski, and to be...
every once in a while challenged or inspired to be doing some cool things.
Like with Rick Mercer,
when he said "Hey Rick, do you want to go bungee jumping?"
and I think I have this little clip here, I would like to share with you guys...
[Rick's Video]
[Rick Mercer] Welcome to Whistler British Columbia.
It has been 25 years
since Rick Hansen got in his wheel chair
and traveled 40, 000 Kilometers around the globe on his
'Man in Motion' World Tour.
Hansen has confronted and conquered it all.
From the Great Wall of China
to inaccessible washrooms in 34 Countries.
Well, the one thing that the 'Man in Motion' has never done
is plunge.
160 feet
off a bridge,
into a gorge,
with a raging river at the bottom.
Today that changes because today,
Rick Hansen and I go bungee jumping!
Unless I chicken out.
[Rick Hansen] Hey, if I'm doing it, you're doing it buddy.
[RM] Are you ready for this?
[RH] Well what do you think? ...No.
[RM] Neither am I. Let's go. Let's go.
[RH] Sounds great. [RM] Okay.
[Music]
[RM] Do you like heights? [RH] Oh, I love about 5 or 6 feet...
[RM] Good. [RH] Uh, how high is this?
[RM] Ohh... 160 feet.
[RH] You've helped challenge me to stretch my boundaries again, huh?
[RM] That's right, that's what I'm doing...
[RM]Tell me Rick, when you are confronted with something that is terrifying you
how do you psych yourself up to actually do it?
[RH] Well, first thing you do is you go into denial.
[RM] Yes, I'm there... denial.
[RH] Alright, then you go into a sense of studying
what it is you are dealing with.
[RM] Right.
[RH] Okay, so look down.
[RM] Ha - Ha.
[RH] Ohh God - look at that...
[RM] Are you Chris?
>> I'm Chris
Hi Chris this is Rick Hansen. Hey Chris, how're you doing?
[Chris] Hey Rick, nice to see ya.
[RM] So Chris, walk us through bungee jumping here in Whistler.
[Chris] Well - bungee jumping here in Whistler...
we actually have a test dummy here right here that's gonna...
[RM] Hello... that's a terrible thing to say...
How are you? What's your name?
>>Lindy. [RM] Lindy? Hi Lindy, this is Rick.
[RH] Hi Lindy. [Lindy] Hi Rick, nice to meet you.
[RM] Good, that looks very secure.
[RH] That's the slip knot?
[Chris] Yeah.
[RM] Don't be nervous until the duct tape shows up.
[RM] You got the orange rope. That's good.
[Chris] Safety rope.
[RM] Ya... easy to find at the bottom of the river.
[RM] When you did the 'Man in Motion' tour,
the tour itself, you raised like how much?
[RH] 26 million. [RM] 26 million dollars.
but the point of the tour wasn't to raise money...
[RH] No.
[RM] for spinal cord research.
[RH] It was to create awareness of the potential of people with disabilities.
[RM] People with disabilities, and what they could do.
[RH] What was possible if barriers were removed.
[RM] Right. And now people know that people with disabilities can do all sorts of things.
But when I told people I was going bungee jumping with you,
a lot of smart people said 'Well he can't do that, he's in a wheelchair'.
[RH] Yeah, there's still a big frontier you know,
there's a lot of people that are doing.
[RM] Bungee!... the last frontier...
[Chris] We have some liability waivers we need you to sign.
[RM You don't have any skeletal, joint or ligament issues do you?
[RH] Just a spinal injury... [laughter]
[RM] Has anyone ever gotten up here and you know,
paid their money, and you open the gate, and they just don't go?
[Chris] Yah...
[RM] This is it? [Chris] That's it.
[RM] A key chain.
That's what I'm being held on, a key chain Rick.
[RM] So when I go down, and I wham down,
I'm gonna come back up?
[Chirs] Yep. [RM] And then down again?
[Chris] Yep. [RM] And then up again?
[Chris] Yep. [RM] And then down again?
[Chris] ...and then down again, and one more time.
[RM] My interpretation of Steven Harper's mood swings.
[laughter]
[RM] I don't know who I'm angrier at - myself
for coming up with the idea or you for agreeing.
[RH] For agreeing, ya. [RM] Because we could've went fishing.
[RH] I know, and you know what... [RM] And fishing is fun... Nerves of steel...
I just hope at the end of this you're the only one in a wheelchair.
[RH] It's been nice knowing ya buddy.
[RM] I really...
[RH] You can do it buddy. [RM] I know I can. I can.
People have done it before.
[Chris] You're going to jump back and lay flat.
[RM]... and smile, smile...
[RM] Oh, wow. Any final words?
[RH] Just go for it. Remember, you're my hero Rick.
[RM] Ok alright, let's just do it, let's just do it.
[RH] Okay; five - four - [RM] Wait, wait... hang on...
[laughter] [RM] My knees are buckling.
[RH] That's good [RM] Yeah...
[RH] Because sooner or later they're going to give
[laughter]
[RH] The whole Nation's watching you now Rick...
Okay, ready?
[RM] I'm a coward...
[RH] I'm counting down. [RM] I'm a coward...
[RH] Five - [RM] Okay no no not yet...
Okay see that's bad... see I shouldn't have started that.
[RH] Five - Four - Three - Two - One GO! You're my hero!
[RM] I'm like a piñata for a grizzly bear. [laughter]
[RH] Whoa... he did it. Yes!
[RM] I'm alive Rick!
I have to twitter this...
[laughter] [RH] That's inspired me.
[RM] It's so much fun. It's so terrifying.
You're going to love it.
[RH] What's that smell? [RM] You know ah... ha...
[laughter]
[RH] Oh man, hey! [RM] There we go.
[RH] You are fantastic. Congratulations. [RM] Now it's your turn brother.
[RH] That is so cool.
[RM] When you were counting down, I didn't want to go.
I can't wait to count down for you.
[RH] Oh, look at the time...
[laughter]
[Chris] Perfect.
[RM] You know those type of athletes who try to get into the other athletes head?
[RH] And you have the upper hand now. [RM] Oh yeah, totally.
[RH] See, before I was ... [RM] Yeah totally, before I was a coward,
now I'm a braggar.
[RM] So you're only really strapped in like this so you can't change your mind.
[RM] The stuff we get into. [RH] You are a bad man...
[RM] The Man In Motion... except it's down this time.
>> One - Two - Three!
[RM] Rick brother! Rick how are you?
[RH] Hey! I can't feel my legs!
Oh no!
That was cool man! Whoo!
[RM] Unbelievable.
It's not every day you see a guy in a wheelchair dangling over a gorge.
Rick Hansen.
>> Every once in a while right. You get inspired by your kids
to not be a 'wuss', to go for it,
to take some risks, to get nervous and to break out of your comfort zones.
And if you can do that, maybe you can think about it in your real life.
Like, stop talking about 'maybe one day' a cure for spinal cord injury happening,
and actually inspire and challenge scientists and clinicians
around the world, to make it happen.
And to be able to find strategic solutions.
Innovative centres of excellence,
there are think tanks that connect multiple centres
through a continuum all around the world, 70 of them,
all unified by a common technology platform outcome measures,
sharing knowledge and doing multi-centre clinical trials
to see an acceleration over the next 25 years and get to that goal.
Or to be able in the meantime ensure that
the people who happen to have disabilities,
1 billion people in the world today,
have the navigation system, a global app,
and that people with disabilities, their family, their friends, and people that care
can rate all facilities in one common frame,
online, and navigate through 3, 4, 5 star environments
and turn the table from an institutional perspective to a consumer perspective.
To create a powerful force for social change,
and to ensure that we get there faster.
Or we can continue to use online technology for social mediums,
and global communities to be able to aspire and share knowledge.
To be able to share stories, and ultimately
celebrate an anniversary during a milestone time.
What an amazing chance to be able to be at the Olympic games
to host and to welcome billions of people in our home Country.
And what better way to do that,
for me to have the privilege of connecting the two events
inside one Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
One People.
Not two separate classes of people.
Not the able bodied people and the disabled.
This is two people.
This is one society, one values unified together.
One group of athletes.
What an incredible representation of how far we've come in 25 years.
It would have been unbelievable to think that
we'd have one Games.
One group of people.
The pride of athletes throughout those games
were clearly reflective of how well Canada had done.
They were absolutely just blown away that they were treated
and organized and supported as athletes.
They had the time of their lives.
They were so thrilled and inspired.
We've continued to celebrate around the world
and across the Country, and now we're in the middle of this
cross Canada relay and moving from
one Man in Motion, to many in motion.
Going through 600 communities.
Going to the point where we have 7,000 people who have made a difference
and each one of them have helped to move our Country
to a more healthy and inclusive place,
and put Canada in context with a healthy and inclusive world.
To see this Royal Canadian Mint Medal be the symbol,
the absolute symbol of what it means to make a difference.
And I absolutely am so thrilled to have been able to
launch it at Cape Spear, and to pass that Medal on to Jacob Manning,
a 13 year old who is dealing with juvenile diabetes
but he's also moving forward and living an active life
and making a difference along the way.
And the thousands and thousands of communities and individuals
who are welcoming their local heroes,
and celebrating the values and the strengths of this great Country,
and what makes us strong and proud.
As one individual, they're hosting and being inspired I can tell you
it is a truly moving moment.
And I know here in Carleton you have incredible champions
and representatives, either alumni or difference makers
and I would like to acknowledge and say thank you to the great work
that Carleton is doing, and the champions that are here.
Those with yellow jerseys on.
Or those that will have them on tomorrow, or had them on yesterday.
Whether it's Darryl Rock a fellow graduate,
whether it's Dean Mellway one of your key leaders or champions...
whether it's Reg McCullen one of the founders of wheelchair basketball
and a great inspiration in sport to me.
All you individuals who are part of the spirit of Carleton,
I say Thank You,
because in many ways this 25th Anniversary is an expression of gratitude.
An expression of gratitude about this incredible Country.
And for each and every one of us
who have accomplished so much, or have done our small part.
Who is it that we can turn to at this moment in our thoughts
or in our hearts, or our prayers to say Thank You?
Who have touched us, who have helped us along the way?
What is it that we think we can do as we move forward
to make a difference?
To actually connect in our own experiences.
To apply our own talents.
To lead or be part of a team, to create a new innovation
or to be able to actually join someone that already exists
to magnify the effort.
To reach out and not work in isolation
but to work together as a global community, all working in the same
sense of vision and values, to magnify our support.
What an incredible legacy that's being generated and created
here at Carleton.
To be able to launch the READ Institute and to see Dean your inspiration,
and many others who have picked up the spirit to
leave a legacy of research and learning and applied knowledge.
To be able to ensure that this Country learns from the best thinking.
That we actually continue to break down institutional policy,
or social barriers.
To continue over the next 25 years to the point where
EVERY citizen in this Country has a chance
to be liberated, to reach their full potential, to chase dreams,
to lead a full and productive life,
and to not feel that they need to be cured
in order to be whole as human beings.
What an incredible privilege and dream that we have
to be working together.
To be able to think about a future of a world that truly is healthy.
Healthy, inclusive, working together
and maybe even set the bar to a point where we think that maybe
one day through new propulsion technologies that
a wheelchair will be something you'll see in a museum.
Maybe even think about the fact that with the next generation
and their incredible insight and capacity,
that they can truly forge a global community to set policy,
to help drive social change in a constructive way,
to ensure that we think that all things may be possible,
and that we know that if each of us does our own small part,
everything is possible.
As you'll see in this concluding video
I'm saying a very personal Thank You to you.
I say Congratulations to Carleton, keep up the great work.
This Community is incredible and you're all difference makers.
[News radio, different media clips]
CKCM follows Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour...
His dream was to travel around the world in his wheelchair
raising awareness about how much disabled people can accomplish...
...at the half way point in Melbourne he joked that it had to be easier...
...now wheeling across China, after paying an emotional visit to the great wall...
...thousands of people cheered the wheelchair marathoner through the home stretch...
...he's on his way...The Man in Motion - Rick Hansen...
[Rick Hansen's voice] Every time you reach an obstacle, we believe
with all our heart that somehow, someway, there is a way
over it, under it, around it, or through it.
Each and every one of us are on our journey.
We all strive to be the best that we can be with what we have.
How many teachers do you have that have made a difference in your life?
Look for that inspiration.
Nowhere in the definition of an athlete
does it saying that you need to use your legs in order to be one.
We live in this amazing Country.
We are surrounded by the notion that no one, absolutely no one
gets anywhere on their own.
Millions of people around the world thinking positively about
the potential of people with disabilities.
I even believe that one day a person with a spinal cord injury
will go up into space,
to leave the wheelchair behind, to be in zero gravity,
to be broadcast to millions and billions of people around the world
that there are no boundaries on this earth.
You're all difference makers.
Each and every one of you have hopes and dreams.
Your future is in your hands.
If you have goals, if you have dreams, if you have things that you care about
never give up on those dreams.
This is the opportunity that we have to make a difference.
Our best work is still ahead.
Join our journey and together we can build a better world for everyone.
Together, anything is possible.
[French] Ne lâcher pas Carleton.
Don't give up on your dreams. Thank you very much
you guys, I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.
I would like to introduce Carleton President Dr. Roseann O'Reilly Runte.
Once in one’s life,
one gets to say Thank You to a truly inspiring speaker.
At the same time you think to yourself
'What in the world could I possibly say after that?'
But it's happened to me twice,
because as you probably know, Dr. Hansen is an honorary graduate
of Carleton University.
So congratulations.
Thank you so much for your message of hope.
Thank you for your inspiring message that tells us
that we can all achieve our dreams.
And we all know that Carleton University is a special University.
We say we're special because we're accessible,
and most days we don't celebrate that.
Most days we just complain we should be even more accessible right?
But you know, if we complain and we look at it together,
we will be more accessible.
When I think we're a special University,
I think of Dean Mellway and Larry McCloskey who had a dream.
They had a vision.
We can do something that at a University,
something that can happen at a University that can't happen anywhere else.
We can bring together the community. We can bring together history
of a tree and nature.
We can bring together beautiful art and the effort of a wonderful sculptor.
We can bring together our Mayor,
who's a wonderful graduate of Carleton University,
and members of his city council who said,
'Yes! That tree must mark this moment in history.
Yes, it must be preserved as art.'
It's a moment when we look at what we do at a University
which is not just be accessible, have wider doors and ramps.
It's where we study, where do research,
where we make things better for the future.
So Thank You to Larry and Dean,
and for everybody who worked to bring,
Art, Research, Teaching - together with accessibility.
And Rick, Thank You for coming all the way
across the Country to be here just today, to celebrate this wonderful event.
All of the Country’s eyes are on you,
and you are our hero.
Thank You, very, very much.
[Rick] Thank You.
So Thank You very, very much.
Thank You all for coming.