20°c Partly cloudy
12°c Cloudy with showers
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Gorbachev among speakers at We Day
Ex-Soviet leader at youth-activism event
Mikhail Gorbachev
KIDS, your homework assignment this evening — ask your parents and grandparents how Mikhail Gorbachev helped them sleep better at night.
And then look forward to hearing the Nobel Peace Prize laureate speak at We Day Manitoba at the MTS Centre on Oct. 30.
Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, will be the featured speaker at the second annual Free the Children event to inspire and empower 18,000 students from more than 380 schools to perform service.
While you’re doing that homework tonight, also check out and write three double-spaced pages on the Soviet Union — it no longer exists, thanks in considerable part to Gorbachev.
Nor, for the most part, do the nuclear tensions exist that had previous generations practising duck-and-cover techniques under their school desks and fearing global nuclear annihilation.
Also featured at We Day will be Manitoba’s own Justice Murray Sinclair, head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools.
Activists and founders of Free the Children, Craig and Marc Kielburger, will lead what is expected to be an energetic crowd, along with host, recording artist Jesse Giddings.
Can’t get enough speakers?
Manitoba Minister of Children and Youth Opportunities Kevin Chief will speak. He has a long track record for the University of Winnipeg and the River East Transcona School Division of getting kids involved, with his work in Eco-Kids, the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sports Achievement Centre and the Innovative Learning Centre.
And even more speakers:
Liz Murray, author of the memoir, Breaking Night: My Journey from Homeless to Harvard;
Winnipeg’s Hannah Taylor, 16-year-old social activist and founder of the Ladybug Foundation and the Ladybug Foundation Education Program;
Spencer West, Me to We motivational speaker and Free the Children ambassador;
Robb Nash, Winnipeg native and motivational speaker.
And yes, yes, horde of 18,000 students, despair not, there will be music, your pop-culture appetite will be sated at We Day.
Featured performers include:
A performance by One Drop, a Cirque du Soleil founder’s initiative;
Lights, Juno Award winner and Canadian electro-rock singer-songwriter;
Shawn Desman, platinum-selling Juno and MMVA Award-winning recording artist;
Victoria Duffield, Canadian singer, actor and dancer;
Allstar Weekend, pop rock recording artists;
Justin Nozuka, Canadian singer-songwriter.
"We are so excited to be returning back to Manitoba for a second We Day at the MTS Centre," said Craig Kielburger. "Over the past year, we have seen such an incredible youth-led movement transpire across the province — from dances and candy-grams, to collecting non-perishable food and organizing discussions about aboriginal issues.
"We are so thrilled to see youth mobilizing, fundraising, and taking action on a variety of local and international causes, contributing to a global movement of active citizenship."
We Day Manitoba is supported by Hartley Richardson, president and CEO, James Richardson and Sons Ltd.; Bob Silver, president and CEO, Western Glove Works Ltd., and co-owner of the Winnipeg Free Press; and Mark Chipman, chairman, True North Sports & Entertainment Ltd.
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
Poll
Most Popular Local
- City's first urban reserve born
- Woman drove into river on purpose
- City set to seize derelict hotel
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Crash victims were good friends, free spirits
- Accused fraudster fights extradition to U.S.
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Witness changes story of killing
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Crash claims two young women, RCMP say
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Police identify slaying victims
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- 2 dead in crash near Portage la Prairie
- The end of the credit card?
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- City's first urban reserve born
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Jockey club launches $350-M civil suit against province
- Crash victims were good friends, free spirits
- Katz plays on with golf-course plan
- Athletes could sit under new school rules
- City set to seize derelict hotel
- Accused fraudster fights extradition to U.S.
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Fishing for fashion
- Famous city grocer loved job, customers
- Core grocer a challenge: expert
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- City's first urban reserve born
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- North End proud
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- First Nation celebrates groundbreaking on city's first urban reserve
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.