KEYNOTES: MAJOR Motivation | Motivate Yourself | Diversity | Stress Management | Anti-Tobacco
WORKSHOPS: Public Speaking | Event Planning | Leadership Styles

MY SECOND ADDRESS TO VAUGHAN CITY COUNCIL

Monday, June 20, 2005

Councillors, Staff and Special GuestsI am pleased to be able to speak once again in support of the City of Vaughan Youth Strategy Proposal. As my colleague has already mentioned, we have come away from the first meeting having heard your suggestions and are more than welcome to put them into our proposal today. I will be speaking to you today in regards to two particular points that we feel are of the utmost importance to the Vaughan Youth Councillor proposal. The first point will deal with the benefits of youth involvement and in particular the benefits of the Vaughan Youth Councillor position. And second, I will be speaking about the rationale for the proposed term length for the Vaughan Youth Councillor.

As a Motivational Speaker it has been my privilege to travel around the globe working with student-led organizations whose sole purpose is to promote youth leadership. There are literally tens of thousands of youth across Canada who every day participate in leadership activities which benefit themselves and benefit their communities. As one example of this, the Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving is an organization that involves High School students promoting the negative consequences of impaired driving. These are students who dedicate hundreds of hours a year for a socially positive cause. As students, they benefit themselves by learning leadership skills; the importance of volunteerism; and the dangers of impaired driving. As these students grow up, they take the skills and knowledge that they have acquired with them through their studies and their future occupations. They are better people for having had the opportunity to get involved with a positive opportunity at a young age.

More specifically to the role of Vaughan Youth Councillor, I liken the position to the role I took on with the York Region District School Board as the Student Trustee. As Student Trustee I had the responsibility of representing over 30,000 High School students across the region from Keswick to Vaughan and from Woodbridge to Stoufville. The task to say the least was dauntingbut that was the idea. I was challenged to take on a monumental task and to make an impact in my community. I was challenged to learn how to work with a team of politicians; how to work with the media; and how to represent a large group of people who had very differing concerns.

It is exactly this type of challenge that we need to be encouraging youth to take on. Challenge a youth to take on a monumental task; one that requires the youth to be responsible for the voices of all of the youth of Vaughan. It will be a difficult job for any youth to accept, but it is through this type of challenging position that you will see the most positive benefits occur.

And these benefits are not just for the youth, but for the community as well. By having a youth representative on the Vaughan City Council, the Vaughan Youth Councillor is able to act as a role model for the students of Vaughan. Youth will be able to look up to the Councillor and see the positives of getting involved and making a difference in their community. This will help to get even more youth involved in the community, which will benefit not only Vaughan, but the youth themselves. In other words, the benefits of having a Vaughan Youth Councillor will be reciprocal. .

Also, as a Council, you will be stronger by being able to have the voice of the youth sitting at the table with you. You will be able to hear the positive initiatives arising from youth and you will be able to better understand the total community of Vaughan. I do firmly believe that having a Vaughan Youth Councillor is a win-win-win situation for the Councillor; the community and the Council.

My final point I want to make here today is in regards to the term length of the position. The learning curve for a position with this many elements is unexplainable. It would take at least a few months just to comprehend the total role of the position. The one area where everyone involved in the planning of this presentation is agreed upon is that the position needs to be the length of the school year. By giving the youth at least eight months, you will be giving them the opportunity to greater understand what they are doing and who they are doing it for.

Four months is far too short of a period of time for a Vaughan Youth Councillor to be able to make an impact with the position and it is far too short to allow the Councillor to acquire the skills that the position is designed to provide them with. The Vaughan Youth Councillor needs time to understand how to become the voice of the youth of Vaughan. It will require time to learn how to gain input from several different youth sectors (from the Public and Private schools; and from all areas of VaughanMaple; Kleinburg; Thornhill and Woodbridge).

I am confident that as City Councillors, you understand the challenges of coming into a new job and trying to learn the ropes. When you start a new job, it can take several months to fully understand the position. Considering the uniqueness of this position it will certainly take longer than four months for a Vaughan Youth Councillor to be able to reach their peak of capabilities. If a City Councillor is given 4 yearsa Youth Councillor needs more than 4 months.

What we are asking you to agree to today is certainly a unique initiative. But I have faith that the innovative and visionary City of Vaughan is ready to become the first major city across Canada to embrace its youth and recognize the importance of providing them with a voice. If this proposal passes, today will mark a watershed moment not only for the City of Vaughan, but for Canada as well.

I thank you for your time.