Youth initiative is off to a good start

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For years, people have paid lip service to the importance of youth programming run by young people themselves. Finally, the concept has become a reality, at least in Alberta.

After a number of meetings over the past year involving much thought-provoking dialogue, Aboriginal youth of Alberta have established two Aboriginal Youth Advisory Committees, one in Calgary, the other in Edmonton. Their task is to assess and review youth program proposals, choose worthy programs from a variety of submissions, and recommend those chosen for funding by the Urban Multipurpose Aboriginal Youth Centre Initiative, a Canada-wide project involving $100 million over the next four years.

The initiative targets Aboriginal youth between the ages of 15 and 24 living in urban areas and will provide culturally relevant programs and activities to encourage Aboriginal youth to complete their education and strengthen employment skills.

The Calgary group, which will receive a $500,000, has selected Crystal Badger, Melinda Bain, Malsum Caibaiosai, Anita Crowshoe, Whiley Eaglespeaker, Krista Laboucane, Lorraine Pike and Michelle Provost, as members of its committee, and is looking for a few more, especially males for the sake of gender balance.

The Edmonton committee with $1.3 million, consists of Jason Arcand, Darryl Belcourt, Jennifer Chong, Charity Laboucan, Sean Mah, Janice Makokis, Keith Martin, Mark McKennitt, Lindsay McLintock, Peter Portlock, Carmen Severight and Lana Whiskeyjack.

In addition, both committees have a group of Elders that will be involved as advisors.

Val Kaufman, the senior program officer, Aboriginal programs, for Canadian Heritage, says she's "excited it's moving forward." In fact, her workload is such that her sole responsibility with Canadian Heritage is now totally engulfed by the youth initiative.

The committees, Kaufman explains, will determine the worthiness of the proposals and make recommendations to the Minister Responsible for Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps.

To assist the youth in preparing themselves for the work ahead, they all attended summer training camps at Blue Lake and the Rocky Mountain foothills. The camps involved team building, leadership training, skill development, proposal assessment and working together as a functional group.

The youth represent all segments of Aboriginal society and though some of them work for Aboriginal organizations and service agencies, they do not represent those specific groups. Rather, they represent the Aboriginal community at large.

Their training will be further enhanced come October when all committee members are scheduled to attend the Dreamcatcher Youth Conference at Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton.