TORONTO, Ontario — President Jeffrey R. Holland met on Monday, March 24, in Toronto, Ontario, with Jean Augustine, former member of Canada’s Parliament and a career educator.
The acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said the visit with Augustine was very positive and that he was impressed with what she has done to help young women in Canada be prepared to meet life’s challenges.
“We wanted to hear Dr. Augustine. We listened to her,” President Holland said.
In 1993, Augustine became the first Black woman elected to Canada’s House of Commons. Her life has largely been dedicated to education, specifically education for young women and girls. The Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment is dedicated to this cause. This after-school program based in Toronto serves girls from ages 7 to 17.
President Holland said the Church works together with organizations like Augustine’s for a simple reason.
“We believe in those young women,” he said. President Holland explained that he sees this type of organization offering help similar to the Church’s own self-reliance classes.
“In a teenage difficulty, so often it is the young women who are left without help. Helping them is what we get involved with in our own welfare and self-reliance services. It is self-help that the Church has always taught. That has a familiar ring when we hear it coming from someone like Dr. Augustine,” he said.
The discussion between President Holland and Augustine, who served in the House of Commons for 23 years, was one of shared belief. These two leaders believe that working together can help youth and young adults bring about positive changes for society.
“Right now, we’re in challenging times,” Augustine said. “We need to have good people who come with experience, who have walked the route, who can show some trails, and who could be encouraging to young people, encouraging to the next generation that there is hope and there is work to be done and that all of us together can move our nation and our communities forward.”
While this was the first time Augustine has met with President Holland, the Church has supported her organizations for years. And prior to their meeting in Toronto, President Holland informed Augustine that the Church would be continuing to support her organization financially.
“She was thrilled with that gesture, as were we,” President Holland said. “It was thrilling to hear her talk about what it would do for her young women. So it was a beneficial gift [and] very timely to give it this week.”
Augustine expressed her gratitude to the Church for its support and to President Holland for taking the time to meet with her and talk about their shared concerns.
“My gratitude, my thanks and my deep appreciation for the friendship, for the support and for the fact that we have models that we can offer our young people,” Augustine said. “I think the motive, the motivation, the raison d’être for the church is to provide service, is to encourage human beings to be better human beings as we walk this route.”
President Holland added that the Church continues to see growth around the world. This growth provides additional opportunities to make a difference in communities, he said, and among groups who need both temporal and spiritual help.
“We want to bless people in time and in eternity,” he said. He added, “We are concerned about what they eat, where they live, how they get an education and how they prepare for employment.”
Following the meeting, President Holland also encouraged members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to learn about the success and challenge of those working outside their typical sphere of association.
Enthusiastic about what he had seen, President Holland said, “The hastening of the work is evident in Canada.”
