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Speaker encourages engaged citizenship

Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission lawyer Meghan Scherger was the guest speaker at the annual Living Sky School Division Student Hall of Fame dinner and awards celebration held in Battleford Arena June 11.
speaker
Megan Scherger, a 2005 graduate of Medstead Central School, was the guest speaker at the Living Sky School Division Hall of Fame at Battleford Arena June 11.

Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission lawyer Meghan Scherger was the guest speaker at the annual Living Sky School Division Student Hall of Fame dinner and awards celebration held in Battleford Arena June 11.

Scherger’s speech to the more than 700 students, parents and teachers at the awards night focused on encouraging students to become informed and engaged citizens. During her talk, it was clear Scherger is passionate about citizenship education, which she views as an antidote to disengagement from formal politics and volunteerism, as well as to political extremism.

Drawing on her experience with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Scherger explained human rights complaints can, in most cases, ultimately be resolved through litigation and/or mediation. Another avenue open to the Human Rights Commission to prevent or correct discrimination is advocacy — lobbying governments to change laws and companies to change their policies.

The fourth pillar to resolving human rights complaints, Scherger said, is citizenship education. “Citizenship education,” she told the students, “is where you come in.” After all, the best solution is to stop discrimination from happening in the first place.

Scherger taught her audience the “new” three Rs, after posing the question, “What does it mean to be a Canadian?” An engaged Canadian citizen should understand his or her rights and responsibilities as a citizen and respect the rights of others.

To achieve that goal, Scherger expanded on the four Es of citizenship.

She encouraged students to be enlightened citizens so they can make educated decisions.

To be enlightened, citizens need to be engaged, the second E. They need to choose to educate themselves and to not be blind to issues.

In discussing ethical citizenship, Scherger told the students, “You won’t regret standing up for what you know is right.

The final E of citizenship, according to Scherger, is empathetic citizenship. She spoke about philanthropy, and noted it doesn’t always have to be monetary. You can also use “your skills and talents to make the world a better place.”

Scherger practises what she preaches. She has been a volunteer teacher and board member with the Heart of the City Piano Program, which offers lessons to inner-city students across Canada.

A former Living Sky School Division student herself, Scherger, then Meghan Seidle,  graduated from Medstead Central School in 2005. She went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in sociology and a law degree. After working with a private sector law firm in Saskatoon, Scherger joined the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission in May, 2014.

Scherger said the Living Sky School Division/Treaty 6 area of Saskatchewan “situates us uniquely to succeed in the world.” Teachers, she said, can inspire us to be “critical thinkers, lifelong learners and engaged citizens,” adding, “You and I are so lucky to have been educated in a place where people know the value of community and citizenship.”