During Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, the committee voted to investigate creating a youth engagement strategy for the municipality.
As part of the meeting, the council heard a deputation from Janet MacGillivray and Christian Everall, of the Greater Than County Youth Collective.
The pair spoke about a number of issues facing youth in Prince Edward County, and presented the findings of survey work they had done to understand the concerns of those aged 30 and below.
The report mentioned that many youth the group had surveyed feel marginalized in the community, with their voices not being heard by the municipal government, and their needs not being addressed.
In addition, that age group faced challenges with participating in local government. Those challenges included geographic isolation in rural areas, financial challenges, and time constraints as working multiple jobs left them little time for other pursuits.
The group presented several recommendations to council, which included increasing direct outreach to youth and ensuring youth representation on municipal committees.
After considering the presentation, Councillor Englesdorfer proposed having municipal staff investigate creating a youth engagement plan, to allow the municipality to directly engage with youth and address their concerns.
“There’s a whole group of young folks like yourselves coming out and getting involved, and I think that’s great. So I think we need to listen and engage with your group,” said Councillor Englesdorfer.
The motion was passed with no debate.
