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Nova Scotia delegate (female, age 16)

"The Commission? You meet some wonderful people, lose lots of sleep, voice a lot of opinions, have a lot of heart to hearts, and cry a lot when you leave. Then, when you get home you experience the post-conference syndrome and cry some more. It taught me about my country, my fellow Canadians, myself and our powers as a united whole. I witnessed an incredible gathering of people, each welcomed with respect and encouraged to express themselves, share their friendships, and contributed in awareness. The Students Commission provided me with a fresh reassurance that there is a lot of good in the world. It changed my life. "

Ontario delegate ( female, age 18)

" I would say that I learned so much more about Canada during these conferences than I did before these conferences. The Students Commission even opened the doors to my future career. I now hope to work in the political aspects of Canada. I realized after the conferences that if youth don't attend these kinds of conferences they won't be in touch with their own country. It was an amazing experience. "

Alberta delegate ( male, age 17)

" It was the greatest six days of my life and a very memorable experience. I gained a lot of knowledge about my country and its people. In addition, I was given the chance to express my views to others effectively. I would recommend The Students Commission conference to all my peers across Canada. Let's do it again next year!"

British Columbia delegate (male, age 15)

"A fantastic opportunity to meet people from every background and cooperating with them to think about and discuss contemporary problems that out country is inflicted with. "

Ontario delegate ( male, first year university)

" This program is very unique since it has very extensive media coverage. Therefore I feel completely satisfied withits goal of being heard around Canada. I would like to help organize for next year. "

At every conference there is work involving media coverage. Local and national media is contacted and informed about the conference. The youth delegates also send faxes to the media in their communities, and sometimes they get interviewed. The article written below by The Toronto Star is a great example of the youth in The Students Commission generating buzz.

The Toronto Star Tuesday November 17, 1998

What's Up? For high School Students: A weekly spotlight on news and issues

Teenagers look for ways to help poor youngsters across Canada

Stephanie Collins, 16, spends her spare time trying to help poor children in St. John's, Nfld. Together with about 20 volunteers at her high school, she's started a program at an elementary school to offer tutoring help, arts and crafts activities, dancing, sports and Internet access. Most important, all of this will be free. The kids she's helping aren't able to pay for extracurricular activities like these. Collins figures child poverty is a big problem in Canada, and this is one way she and others her age can do something about it. "It's very important for us to make a difference," she says. "We have to take initiative and we have to be responsible for others." Isabelle Rivard in Ottawa is taking a different approach.

The 17 year old plans to continue a program she started last winter to take poor kids snowboarding. She helps raise money for equipment and lift tickets through raffles and other fundraising programs. Rivard has also been part of a project that subsidizes summer camp for children. Why does she do this? "Because I care," she says simply. "I know it's not easy (being poor) and I want to help other people." Rivard and Collins were among about 150 teenagers from across Canada who attended an Ottawa conference this summer to discuss ways of tackling child poverty. The event was organized by a non-profit, national organization called The Students Commission. Close to 1.5 million Canadian children live in poverty. That's one out of every five kids in the country.

 

Being poor can mean different things. Like having little food to eat and going to a food bank for supplies. Or getting winter boots and a warm coat from a church-run charity. Studies show that children raised in poverty are more likely to experience abuse, poor school performance, criminal activity, teen pregnancy and unemployment later in life. Poverty has many faces in Canada. They range from Toronto's squeegee kids, young people who wipe windshields at busy intersections for spare change, to the hundreds of homeless people sleeping on the streets in Vancouver.

Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman recently called homelessness a national disaster in Canada but in Canada's largest city, the crisis is worse than anywhere else. Nearly 5,000 people search for emergency shelter in Toronto each night. Rent increases, government cutbacks and job losses have all been blamed for an increase in families with young children who have been left homeless. The people attending The Students Commission conference didn't just talk about the problem of child poverty. They decided to do something about it. They came up with dozens of ideas that they're now putting in place to fight poverty in their own neighborhoods.

The conference delegates were united by one belief: Youth must take responsibility for issues that affect the lives of young people."We wanted not just to focus on what it is that governments or business or everybody else can do," said Denise Campbell, spokesperson for The Students Commission. "It's also up to us to be active participants in our own lives and to determine the quality of the life that we'll have."