Youth don’t get many opportunities to voice their opinions. But in Campbell River, the Youth Action Committee (YAC) give youth a voice in city decisions.
On March 7, YAC members — including myself as chair — presented to Campbell River council regarding their research into downtown revitalization.
YAC began working on downtown revitalization in early November. When the members voted for their top pick for the 2015-16 year priority, downtown revitalization came out as a clear interest.
YAC then took a tour of downtown and noted that the downtown was rather bland but had much potential. They did some workshops and research to create a survey for the youth of Campbell River, asking them what they’d want to see in our downtown. Five hundred and fifty-two surveys were completed, giving YAC a good idea of what Campbell River youth wanted to see.
From there, three YAC members volunteered to present to council: co-chair Ben Lowe, committee member Meara Spiers and myself.
The presentation went very well. YAC received a warm response from council, which was very appreciative of the committee’s research and opinions.
Lowe explained how he felt afterwards, saying that, “it was a fun, exciting experience [and] I think we did a great job on the presentation.”
Spiers felt that “presenting to council was a memorable experience that I’m glad I was a part of.”
The Youth Action Committee’s presentation to council provided a unique experience for the members of YAC, as well as helped to create a more balanced and well-represented community, as council will now have the opinion of those who can’t vote to consider as well.