Articles of the Month

The Youth Leaders in Rural Canada Awards

The Young Leaders in Rural Canada Awards (YLRCA) recognizes and celebrates the successes of rural youth who dedicate their passion, spirit and skills to benefit rural, remote and northern communities. On November 21, the Rural Secretariat and the Government of Canada hosted the second Young Leaders in Rural Canada award ceremony in Ottawa to highlight and celebrate important contributions that six rural Canadian youth have made to their communities.

As Youth.gc.ca employees, Pierre and I were lucky enough to attend the big event. Of course, we were thrilled to go: we are always interested to see what is new with the youth scene! We also though it might be a good opportunity to find out what kind of community projects and groups youth are involved with, meet some new people, and just find out more in general about what makes rural youth tick! Boy, were we right; we met some incredible people, all of them dedicated to improving the future of their rural communities! It was very inspiring to hear the enthusiasm in the voices as they each talked about their projects.

The Honorable Andy Mitchell was there; he's the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Also present was the Honorable Wayne Easter, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food with special emphasis on Rural Development. They spoke about how rural communities are essential part of Canada and its heritage, and congratulated the award winners on the role they are playing in helping rural Canada move towards a bright future. After supper (chicken, rice pilaff, green beans - not bad, not bad), the award recipients were called forward one at a time to receive their awards. Awards were presented in three categories:

• The Innovation award recognizes outstanding contribution to a rural community through an innovative and trend-setting initiative.
• The Leadership category pays tribute to a youth who encompasses the spirit of leadership.
• The Partnership category rewards a youth who makes an exceptional contribution to building, fostering or strengthening partnerships.

Last year, three awards were presented; one for each category. However, this year, there were so many excellent nominations that the awards committee decided to award an honourable mention in for each category as well!

Dylan

The winner of the Innovation award, Dylan Green, is a surfer from Tofino, BC, who received the award for his initiative in establishing an environmentally friendly public transportation service.

Dylan told us that by the age of 24, he knew he wanted to live in a region where he would be able to balance work and play. That's why he moved to Tofino--the only town in Western Canada where there is year-round surfing. It was perfect, except for the fact that he had difficulty finding work throughout the year, so he started to think of ways to generate some income.

Dylan saw that the transportation services in Tofino were just not meeting the needs of the community. Bus service was infrequent, and the buses refused to take surf boards. He began to envision a service that would bring in more tourists to the region, and that would be able to accommodate surfers and their boards. He wanted to make his town a weekend destination. Dylan explained to us the difficulties that he faced when he tried to obtain a licence to run a second bus line. His efforts finally paid off and Tofino Bus was established in 2002.

Through his hard work, Tofino Bus has evolved into a flourishing business; it operates with a fleet of 8 buses and offers year-round services. Buses are also equipped to transport surfboards and bikes.

We were very impressed with Dylan's story, but it gets even better. With an understanding that the tourism industry is completely dependent upon the unspoiled natural environment, Dylan began to research alternative fuels for his buses. He discovered a relatively new product - bio-diesel, made from renewable sources (vegetable oil, animal fats). Its emissions, unlike regular diesel, are not carcinogenic or harmful to the ozone layer. Dylan is happy that his contributions have a positive and long-lasting effect on his community and his project is a great example of where an innovative outlook can take you!

In the meantime, Dylan is still working on another innovative idea for youth in his area--an after school surf programme for the local students. Be on the lookout for the first high school surf team in Canada!

Miguel

The second recipient of the night was Miguel LeBlanc who received the Leadership award for his hard work in bringing youth and adults together in rural communities. His story was equally interesting.

Coming from the small Acadian community of Scoudouc, New Brunswick, Miguel understands the opportunities and challenges that rural life holds. He explained that in this particular setting it's important to listen to youth and what they say. He's always amazed at what's he's hearing from them.

Miguel works as the Community Coordinator at the New Brunswick Advisory Council on Youth. As he spoke, you could really feel that he is passionate about engaging youth in their community and in the government. As he said, "Our voices need to be heard!"

Miguel knows that adults and youth don't necessarily speak the same language, but that doesn't mean they can't communicate. Thanks to his education and experience as a social worker, he has been able to take a pro-active role in facilitating intergenerational sessions in rural communities across the province.

One of the problems that Miguel recognized in his community was bullying. To help resolve this problem, he organized youth and adults to work together to find a solution. In this way, he was able to flag this issue as a community problem, and initiate action.

Miguel is without a doubt a very busy guy. He created links between youth and adults in the aboriginal community of Burnt Church. He formed a committee of adults and youth, who learn how to communicate with each other while looking at initiatives to benefit their community. He also joined the Youth Action Network, which supports youth in the fight against youth homelessness and youth "at risk" issues in New Brunswick, AND is involved with the Menswork Network for Change, which promotes male youth's involvement in the fight against family violence. How's that for extra-curricular activities?!

It's obvious that Miguel LeBlanc plays a key role in addressing some of the most important issues facing rural youth in the province. According to him, the future of rural communities lies in the possibility of adults and youth engaging in productive dialogue, and learning from each other. He certainly does his part in making this happen.

Mallory

Next up, Mallory Statham from Powell River, B.C. was presented with the Partnership award to recognize her work in leading youth efforts in a number of community based events.

Mallory spoke of growing up in a resource-dependent community, and how she has felt and seen what happens to a small community when it loses its main employer. With people leaving to find jobs elsewhere, the numbers in her community dropped, resulting in lower school enrolment and eventually leading to closures and amalgamations. This had a negative effect on the students' morale and motivation.

Mallory took a position with Public Health as Leader of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC). Her mandate was to encourage youth to be involved in new activities where they could make new friends, learn about themselves and make a difference to their community. She described various events that she helped to organize in her community, such as "Youth Music Idol", an event which was organized with the help of the municipality. This contest has now become an annual event in Powell River, enhancing community pride and showcasing some of the many talents of Powell River's youth.

Her next project was to assist the Road Sense Team of the Insurance Corporation of B.C. in reaching their youth market and educating young people on the negative impacts of substance abuse. Mallory came up with a two year plan for various educational events to be held in the community and the schools. As part of the plan, different community groups and organizations would work together to make the events a reality.

The Road Sense Team liked Mallory's plan so much that they budgeted to fund her efforts and created a school-based CARS (Counter Act Road Safety) B.C. club. By bringing together school authorities, regional insurance staff, the provincial Ministry of Highways, three emergency services and a number of other organizations, Mallory was able to organize and to hold a mock crash event. Students had no idea that this would be happening, and when the 'crash' took place right outside their school, they were able to see first hand the effects of dangerous driving!

Mallory worked through the challenges and created her own opportunities. Since she began working with the Road Sense Team, the number of fatal car crashes have decreased in her community. Mallory is now attending university, and continues to be an active advocate for rural youth as a member of the university's recruiting department.

Honorary mentions

Honorary mentions were also awarded:

• Joël Delisle of St-Gilles, Quebec was honoured with an honorary mention in Innovation for establishing a First Responder Service in his community.
• Jason Leonard of Whitehorse, Yukon received an honorary mention for his Leadership in establishing peer support services for youth.
• Lana Cowling-Mason of Warren, Manitoba accepted the Partnership honorary mention for helping to initiate many successful projects such as housing studies, feasibility studies, a Web page development strategy and a new tourist attraction for her town.

All the winners received a trip to Ottawa to attend the award ceremony. They also toured the Parliament buildings and got to attend the House of Commons Question Period.

Hearing these stories, I was really struck by the fact that youth have so much to give. I know that is something you hear all the time, but meeting people like the recipients of the Young Rural Leaders Awards makes you realize the truth behind these words. Coming from a rural community myself, I am well aware of all the challenges of rural life. Urban-dwellers sometimes find it hard to understand the struggles rural communities face, especially when their resource based economy fails. Starting up a business or establishing a new community services can be a monumental task when you lack the population base, the transportation networks or the funding to make it work. Sometimes it can seem like there is just no way for a rural community to survive.

The Young Leaders in Rural Canada Awards (YLRCA) recipients have found ways to improve life in their rural communities, despite these kinds of challenges. Canada is lucky to have a talented and enthusiastic young rural population who is working hard to keep its small towns and villages alive. If they are given encouragement and a chance, rural youth can play an important role in helping rural Canada to prosper and grow in the future.

If you have any questions or comments register and/or log on to the Canadian Youth Connection Forum, featured on the youth.gc.ca home page and go to General Discussion to the specific rural youth awards thread. I will be there to answer all of your questions. Thanks!

Danielle Gallant
Canadian Youth Connection Moderator

Pierre Bisson
Promotion and Partnerships