City youth committee to be revived
A new St. Catharines youth committee will be created by city council at the request of young people.
Council heard from four young St. Catharines residents Monday who said they want to participate more in the city and urged council to adopt the idea.
“I believe that this committee would be a great thing to bring to the city of St. Catharines so that high school students similar to me can get involved and give back to their community,” said Amy D’Amboise, a Grade 11 student at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School speaking to council Monday.
St. Catharines used to have a youth advisory committee but it was eliminated in March 2015 when council revamped its advisory committee structure. At that time, council reduced the number of committees from 31 to 13 and re-organized them into cultural, economic, environmental and social categories.
The youth committee and a committee for older adults were eliminated with the idea forums would be held as a new way to elicit feedback.
The first youth forum was held in March 2017 at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre with the goal of getting youth engaged in issues they’re facing in the city. About 150 young people talked about mental health well-being, entrepreneurship, inclusive community building and community engagement.
But some participants said they wanted to continue to actively engage and voice their interests on city issues.
“Through its success, this forum left me hungry for more — a long-term opportunity to promote engagement for youth,” said Nico Tripodi, a Grade 12 student at St. Francis Catholic Secondary School.
Tripodi said the forum was a tremendous energizer for the youth of the city, providing inspiration and information that has fostered engagement for the past eight months.
He approached St. George’s Coun. Mike Britton after the forum to ask how he could continue his involvement.
Britton said Tripodi asked what he could do next, while forum MC Madi Fuller, a Brock University graduate, brought forward the idea of a youth committee.
Fuller told councillors the city has a responsibility to create a platform that can give a group of youth an opportunity to lead and gain life skills. She said they can get other youth involved through events and conversations like the youth forum, which was successful.
“Students were sharing ideas and also personal life experiences and they felt like they really belonged in their community,” she said. “This needs to keep going and not stay on that one day.”
Fuller said diverse young people put a different and important lens on topics.
Britton said he brought Tripodi and Fuller together, along with D’Amboise and first-year Brock University student Hope Tuff-Berg to create the terms of reference for a committee.
“I think it’s a great starting point and I think it’s going to help youth in our community,” said Britton, who made the motion Monday to create the committee.
Tuff-Berg said by giving students the responsibility and encouragement to work on initiatives that are important to them, the city will see youth become more engaged and active citizens in their community.
Council adopted the motion unanimously. It included approving the terms of reference in principle to allow for the immediate posting of vacancies to fill two community liaison positions.
City staff were directed to work with the proponents to review the terms of reference and bring back recommendations for the committee and for citizen appointees to the Jan. 15 council meeting. kwalter@postmedia.com twitter.com/karena_standard