First Nations and Métis youth will soon be helping form government policy on Aboriginal education and employment.
Their advice and experience will be considered as the Premier’s Task Force On Aboriginal Youth hits the road next week.
A dozen communities, all the way from Pelican Narrows in the north to Fort Qu’Appelle in the south, will take part in the hearings.
Saskatoon MLA Jennifer Campeau is the chair of the task force and she says the government wants to learn first-hand how its decisions are impacting Aboriginal youth, not just in the bigger centres, but also in the isolated communities in the north.
“It is important to talk to the youth in the north because of the transition they have to have in terms of the lack of infrastructure, and when they do come to the cities for education what they go through and what we can do to help their transition to the post-secondary or training schools,” she says.
The vice chair of the task force is Rob Norris, the legislative secretary for First Nations Engagement.
He says this is not an exercise in public relations but instead about grass roots input to help guide government decision makers.
Norris says the government wants to know what it is doing right and what it is doing wrong.
“We want to be very attentive to what those recommendations are, again, not just about what is working but about some of those frustrations, some of those barriers, some of those challenges that our young people are facing,” he says.
The hearings are aimed at young people between the ages of 16 and 25 – some are still going to school, some are already in the work force and others are still struggling to find their direction.
The first of a dozen meetings will be held in Regina next week and the last will take place in July.
The list of communities that will be visited includes Regina, Saskatoon, Stony Rapids, Moose Jaw, Fort Qu’Appelle, Yorkton, La Ronge, La Loche, Ile-a-la Crosse, Prince Albert, Sandy Bay and Pelican Narrows.