Lt. Gen. (Ret) Hon. Romeo Dallaire

Last night Clint and I went to Albert College to hear their annual Guest Speaker, Romeo Dallaire. I had bought tickets a couple of weeks ago and the same day I told a few friends that I knew would be interested; they could not get tickets as it sold out extremely fast. They have had great speakers at this event at the College; Roberta Bonda, Robert Bateman, Elizabeth Manley and more. I will be keeping track of who comes to speak next year.

So……..For my Blog readers who live outside of Canada, you may not have heard of him. Here is a quick bio………He served in the Canadian military for 37 years, was a Canadian Senator for 10 years, respected author, a Government and UN advisor and he also started the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace, and Security which is a global partnership. The Dallaire institute has a mission to end and prevent the recruitment/use of children in violence. On top of that, he is a wonderful speaker. Last night he told us many stories, talked about Canada’s place on the World Stage, children’s rights and so much more. I can’t remember everything he said but the time flew by for us.

One event in his life, you may have heard of – he was the Force Commander of the UN Assistance Mission to Rwanda in 1994. He provided the UN with information about a planned massacre; this massacre did occur and took more than 800,000 lives in 10 days. He requested permission to intervene and that was denied and he was told to withdraw. He did not withdraw; he disobeyed the order and stayed, along with a small contingent of Ghanaian and Tunisian soldiers and others, he stayed in order to protect those who sought safety with the UN forces. There is a movie made about him called Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.

So that is what I know of Romeo Dallaire and if you ever get the chance to hear him speak, I think you would enjoy it.

See you soon…….