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St. Ignatius grad off to Toronto for G8/G20-like meeting

A St. Ignatius graduate learned a few Russian phrases before departing a life-changing youth conference that will mirror the G8/G20 summits.
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Mike Robinson heads off to the Global Vision Youth Conference Wednesday. (Jeff Labine, tbnewswatch.com)
A St. Ignatius graduate learned a few Russian phrases before departing a life-changing youth conference that will mirror the G8/G20 summits.

Mike Robinson, 18, said a year ago he didn’t really know much about politics – just what he read in the newspapers from time to time. Robinson became involved with Global Vision and from there became the representative for Ontario at the G8 and G20 summits.

Robinson said attending the summit meetings and listening to the political leaders provided a rare opportunity to gain some political experience.

"It’ll look great on a resume," Robinson said. "More importantly it will be an experience of a lifetime and I’ll learn so much so one day I’ll have that knowledge if I wish to fill these leaders shoes."

Robinson said he would be flying to Toronto and then take a bus to Muskoka, Ont., where the Global Vision My Summit conference is held. From there the 26 youth delegates will discuss, debate and negotiate the same themes that will be considered at the G-8 Leaders’ Summit, he said.

Robison said he looked forward to meeting Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia and U.S. President Borack Obama. Coming from Thunder Bay, he said he prepared himself for the culture shock when meeting people from different parts of the world.

While climate change isn’t the focus of the summit discussions, Robinson said the discussion on the economy and environmental issues go hand in hand. He added that once the economy becomes more stable issues such as climate change would be easier to address.

"The two are interconnected," he said. "But I really do believe we need to stabilize the economy first and then we can look at restitution for the other issues."

After the conference, Robinson said he accepted an offer from University of Ottawa for the journalism program and would be moving in the fall.






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