Council – the next generation

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@trancontinental.ca

To anyone under the impression today’s kids just don’t care, Baie d’Urfé Mayor Maria Tutino says her town’s first youth council meeting proved the exact opposite.

“The kids had very sound opinions,” Tutino said. “Also, one thing that was very encouraging was that they wanted to know how they could get involved.”

The town publicized the youth council idea in local schools, and according to Tutino, did not know what turnout to expect for the March 27 meeting.

“But at two minutes to seven, cars kept coming in like you wouldn’t believe,” she said. In the end, 26 youth between 10 and 20 years old attended the meeting, which started off fairly quiet, but really got rolling once they started voicing their own questions and concerns.

Topics ranged from parks and recreation to snow clearing and speeding. Some of the attendees asked if they could organize a flower and vegetable garden at the Red Barn, as well as youth social events.

Eleven-year-old Carmen Hojabri was there to express her opinions on the town’s sidewalks, and also give her input into how a community garden and social events for kids could be run.

“I kind of wanted to see if there was anything else we could do,” she said. “I like talking about my ideas and listening to other people’s.”

“We have a lot of ideas about what can be done to improve Baie d’Urfé. It’s such a beautiful town,” said Hojabri’s friend Ariana Borjian, 11, speaking of how important it is for young people to get involved in their town. “I’ve always wanted to do a little theatre thing in the town.”

Tutino said council appreciated everything the kids brought to the table, and is looking forward to the next youth council meeting.

“They’re all great recommendations, but we have to look into whether they’re possible,” Tutino said. “Baie d’Urfé is such a volunteer town. Our citizens are so involved in every aspect of our community. I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to get the kids involved and sort of nurture that community spirit.”

The next youth council meeting is scheduled for June. Details on the date and time will follow.