YOUTH DIALOGUE - CAN WE TALK SERIES
The Governor General's "Can We Talk" series that was recently held in St. John's and Attended by two clients (Courtney King & Pamela Hayter) from the Youth Employment Service office in Bonavista. 2010 is International Year of the Youth and the "Can We Talk" series was designed to discuss breaking down barriers and getting more youth involved in the communities in which they live.
An overview of the day, prepared by the participants representing YES follows:
Pam Hayter writes:
The goal of the conference is directed towards involving youth in breaking down the barriers in their communities, districts and country, it isn't specifically oriented towards race, language, education or anything else, it is about breaking down all barriers and making Canada more equalized for all of its citizens.
The Governor General has directed this towards youth because she believes that youth can be the catalyst of social change, if the youth of Canada become involved and voice their opinions they can and will make a change and this is why she oriented these talks towards youth to get them thinking about their communities and the barriers they have it also was a means for many of the groups, who attended the event, to voice their concerns and let the youth in attendance know about their programs and give them something to think about. The topics of conversation ranged from concerns regarding the drug problem in Newfoundland and the lack of available rehabilitation centers on the island, to education inequality from rural and urban Newfoundland, inequality for people with disabilities, political inactivity and so on.
In attendance at the event was the Governor General, Premier Williams and the new Dean of Memorial University, all of whom spoke to the audience in attendance, and Premier Williams even responded to one of the questions directly during the talk. At the end of the event they addressed the audience again regarding some of the points that had been brought up during the event. The Governor General especially responded to people with various comments directed towards points brought up during the conference. The event was bilingual as well, and most of the Governor General's comments and that of her assistant who was leading the talks were in both French and English. The event itself brought up some interesting points regarding political inactivity in Newfoundland's youth, healthcare issues, loss of culture, education differences, opportunities for people in rural communities, student debt and services, youth oriented programs for helping youth budget money and so on. It really was an interesting event that gave me a lot to think about.
Courtney King writes:
Recently the Governor Generals "Can We Talk" Series was held in St. John's and I was invited to attend.
The "Can We Talk" event was an open forum type discussion where the youth leaders from various districts were invited to speak on the issues they face. The Governor General planned these events due to this being the UN's International Year of the Youth, and she wanted to get young people talking about the issues, in an effort to change them. Involving youth is important because we are the future of the country and we face different problems then the older generations who often speak for them.
The Governor General, Premier Williams, and the Dean of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador were in attendance. They all took notes and addressed the audience in attendance regarding the points of interest that they had taken from the open discussion. People from all areas were in attendance and spoke of the issues they face, from rural Newfoundlanders who spoke of lack of opportunities, and loss of culture by loss of people, to drugs and healthcare.
Many of the people who spoke were individuals involved with groups in and around the St. John's area from Oxfam to Planned Parenthood and they told those in attendances of the things they see and hear that worry them, to the programs that they have to try to combat this. One person spoke extensively regarding the political inactivity of youth here today, and the programs they offer, another spoke of the loss of French Newfoundland Culture due to the migration of these youth to other areas where they have better opportunities.
The Main topic seemed to be Education and possible Education reforms, the lack of extra-curricular activities at schools, especially in out port Newfoundland, and other topics involving this theme. The Governor General expressed her pleasure in this topic, which was repeatedly brought up, because she said that an education is the most important thing you can have, because it helps you and allows you to help your country. Overall the event was designed to allow the youth an area to express their concerns and issues with our society, government, culture and so on, in a peaceful open area, where constructive criticism could be given. It also allowed the groups involved in youth culture or youth issues, and government and university officials to hear what we had to say about the problems we face and then try to help deal with those problems. We were also encouraged to contact the various groups in attendance and become involved, or to contact our local government officials, at all levels Municipal, Provincial and Federal, to voice our concerns, because our opinions do matter and we can help initiate a change. The Premier plans to hold another conference of this type to monitor the situations and help wherever he can. I really enjoyed the event and felt the structure and atmosphere was great!
