The Town of Collingwood will be looking for a few young people to help shape future priorities for the town.
During Monday’s (May 1) committee of the whole meeting, councillors gave initial approval for a motion to proceed with four new youth initiatives, which include collaborating with existing youth councils in town, collaborating with youth activists, a council recognition initiative and bringing back the Youth Mayor program.
Mayor Yvonne Hamlin said she looked forward to getting youth involved in municipal governance, and was hopeful it would lead to more youth voting.
“This is a good chance for us to get democracy going in our community,” she said.
An internal working group was established in 2022 as approved by council to conduct a youth survey on the Engage Collingwood page to receive input on how the town can better engage youth in Collingwood.
A total of 74 surveys were completed when it went out to the public in May 2022.
When asked how they use their free time, the top three responses were outdoor recreation, team sports, gaming and other activities.
When asked how connected they felt to the community, 20 per cent of respondents felt unconnected, with the majority either feeling somewhat connected (46 per cent), connected (22 per cent) or very connected (12 per cent).
Preferred communication platforms included Instagram (53 per cent), e-newsletter (19 per cent) and webpage (eight per cent).
The majority of respondents (69 per cent) felt it was important or very important to have a voice in what happens in Collingwood.
From the perspective of survey respondents, the top five biggest issues in Collingwood were:
- Mental health and addiction
- Lack of affordability
- Places to hang out (indoor/outdoor)
- Things to do
- Climate change
“The lowest two that were identified were inequality and gender and safety. They felt they were in an inclusive area, and they felt safe in Collingwood,” said the town clerk, Sara Almas, in her presentation to councillors.
While details on collaborations between the town and other youth programs are still to be determined, the staff report highlights the Collingwood Public Library Youth Council and the Collingwood Youth Centre Youth Council as two of many youth-run organizations in town that would be part of the collaboration.
“I think these are wonderful, feel-good initiatives that everyone will be on-side with,” said Coun. Christopher Baines. “I think others might want to come to the table to help out.”
Coun. Chris Potts said he’d love to see local schools engaged in mock elections come election time.
“This is pretty critical. We need to start developing the farm team going forward just for some younger people to replace us,” said Coun. Kathy Jeffery. “I really hope that through this we will be promoting gender equality and the equity/inclusivity initiatives that we have on the go within our municipality.”
Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer floated the idea of adding a youth category to the Order of Collingwood, an idea that came up during committee talks.
“I look forward to working this through,” said Fryer.
The committee voted unanimously in favour of moving forward with new youth initiatives. Coun. Deb Doherty was absent from the meeting. The decision will need to be ratified at the next meeting of council on May 15 before going into effect.
