City of Guelph staff is exploring ways for city council to have more youth input on projects and initiatives in municipal affairs.
Nearing the end of its fifth year, the 2013-18 Guelph Youth Strategy has identified a number of recommendations moving forward to meet the demands of its growing youth population. One recommendation calls for greater youth representation at city council.
City clerk Stephen O’Brien said his office is working with Parks and Recreation staff to bring the initiative to fruition, probably in 2020.
“We have been working with them to find ways to allow for a youth voice to have more of a prominence in terms of sharing information or offering the youth lens or vantage on any number of policy decisions that council would make,” said O’Brien.
Details are still being hashed out, but O’Brien notes the position could take the form of a youth advocate available to councillors to offer a youth lens on projects and initiatives.
“They won’t be able to vote, obviously,” he said.
He could see the position as someone who works with city staff and council on items that are deemed to have a youth component or an effect on youth.
“It’s just involving youth in decision making,” said O’Brien.
The position could be similar to a member of the current youth advisory council, but available at meetings of city council in chambers, said Heather Flaherty, manager, Parks and Recreation.
“This initiative in itself will be a little bit ground breaking in terms of how close it could be to council,” said Flaherty. “It’s going to be a fantastic initiative and staff has put a lot of effort into working closely with the clerk’s department on how we could implement this process so youth have a valid voice with council decisions.”
The framework for the project is currently being built, said Flaherty.
The outreach and recruitment phase for the position is scheduled to begin in Q3 2019, with a planned start date of Q3 2020.
O’Brien said the position will be a nominal budget item in 2020, with enough for an honorarium or some supports from staff in order to fulfil that role or position.
Among the other recommendations born from the 2013-18 Guelph Youth Strategy are the implementation of a universal bus pass for all high school students, the creation of a program for businesses to train and employ young people and a recommendation to council for a greater subsidy for youth recreation feed to reduce financial barriers and increase access to recreational activities.
