Strong voice for youth

Re Warm welcome awaits Trudeau on world

stage, Column Oct. 24 Tony Burman looks positively to our new prime minister’s participation at the G20. This August, four Canadians participated in an official G20 Youth-20 Summit in Istanbul, where we engaged in policy discussions on youth challenges. Our recommendations will be delivered to prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau at the G20 summit in November.

The G20, representing 66 per cent of the population and 85 per cent of the economy, has global influence. However, if 50 per cent of the world’s population — people under 30 — are excluded from policy discussions, the potential impact is curtailed.

Young people are disproportionately affected by global problems of conflict, unemployment and poverty and yet few youth issues have been covered in G20 summits.

Already, we’ve had one success: in September, the Labour and Employment ministers recommended the G20 adopt a target to reduce unemployment by 15 per cent by 2025.

Let’s urge Justin Trudeau to be a strong voice for global youth issues and actionable policies at the G20. Diane Tisdall, Toronto