White Pines student a repeat finalist in national public speaking contest

An Anishinaabe high school student from Garden River First Nation has been selected as a finalist in a public speaking competition that will see students from across Canada discuss human rights issues and how they envision creating positive change in the world. 

Nevaeh Pine, a Grade 11 student at White Pines Collegiate and Vocational School in Sault Ste. Marie, will once again compete in Speaker’s Idol — an annual public speaking competition for students hosted by Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies — after claiming second place in the event last year. 

The competition will be held virtually May 10.

“I’m just proud to have these platforms to speak on and have my voice be heard on these crimes against humanity,” said Pine, when asked for her reaction to being named a finalist for the second year in a row. 

Pine will compete against 11 participants from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia during this year’s event, which will be hosted by television and radio personality Rick Campanelli and judged by lawyer and public policy expert Annamie Paul, litigation lawyer Matthew Gottlieb and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Toni Zhong.  

This year, students based their speeches on Holocaust survivor and Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal’s quote: "I believe that there is no other solution than to constantly engage with the past and to learn from it.”

After honing in on the Every Child Matters movement for last year’s second-place finish, Pine will use this year’s speech to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S) during Wednesday’s event. 

The 16-year-old says the public needs to learn about systemic racism and its impacts.

“The speech is a call to action on the violence against Indigenous women and girls and the two-spirited people — and the ongoing national tragedy that needs to end,” said Pine. “It’s rooted in our systems and systemic racism.

“It’s been a problem from the beginning. It’s not only an Indigenous issue to fix, but everybody needs to have their voice heard and everybody needs to understand so we can all put our voices together and stand up against these crimes against humanity.”

It’s a familiar topic for Pine: She wrote her very first speech about MMIWG2S as an assignment in school when she was just 12 years old. A year later, she would claim first place for her MMIWG2S speech during a provincial public speaking competition hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion in Niagara Falls.    

“The speech has grown with me; every time I mentally grew, the speech grew too, if that makes sense,” Pine said.  

Public speaking has enabled Pine to take part in a number of conferences, demonstrations and marches over the past few years. 

“It’s definitely helped me grow as a leader in my community as a sister and a daughter. I’ve taken on leadership roles in my school, my community and my life in general,” she said. “It’s helped me grow as a person, but it’s also allowed me to educate myself on all these different topics.”

Pine says she’s not really thinking about squaring off against competitors from across the country during Wednesday’s Speaker’s Idol event.   

“It’s not about the competition itself; it’s about being able to hear all these speakers from all over,” she said. “I think it’s very important to hear all these youth voices and the topics they bring forward, and how incredibly important they are.”