“On behalf of the youth cabinet we want to express to you how much a spending freeze in 2018 would hurt Toronto’s youth and other marginalized youth,” begins Riley Peterson.
The 18-year-old Ryerson University student is seated directly in front of Mayor John Tory and a committee of his hand-picked executive members on this mild May day.
A freeze, direction endorsed by Tory and his allies, would make it harder to access social services and to break the cycle of poverty, Peterson says. It would leave residents waiting for better housing and transit.
“We need to break away from the status quo by truly investing in our city and the services that make it function,” she tells the committee. She endorses raising property taxes beyond the rate of …show more content…
Seven working groups led by youth tackle the big issues: Newcomers, community safety, transit, education, equity and employment, housing and the budget.
“We’re adding an additional lens to how we’re looking at city council,” says executive director Edna Ali, 21.
“Especially for the budget we add a different perspective, because I think a lot of the people in those discussions are focused on what’s going on now and what’s happening in the city now, but we’re also looking at 10, 20, 30, 40 years down the road too,” adds Peterson, who is the group’s budget lead.
“I think as youth we’re kind of tired of like just scraping by every year on the budget and not investing in the city now is going to have a real impact on our futures so that’s what I mean by status quo budgets.”
The youth cabinet is also challenging council for promising new initiatives without funding them in the budget.
In the preliminary 2018 budget, there are $41.2 million worth of programs and services that are not yet funded, though Tory has promised to add many to the budget. They include student nutrition, a low-income transit pass, an anti-Black racism plan and more childcare
The 18-year-old Ryerson University student is seated directly in front of Mayor John Tory and a committee of his hand-picked executive members on this mild May day.
A freeze, direction endorsed by Tory and his allies, would make it harder to access social services and to break the cycle of poverty, Peterson says. It would leave residents waiting for better housing and transit.
“We need to break away from the status quo by truly investing in our city and the services that make it function,” she tells the committee. She endorses raising property taxes beyond the rate of …show more content…
Seven working groups led by youth tackle the big issues: Newcomers, community safety, transit, education, equity and employment, housing and the budget.
“We’re adding an additional lens to how we’re looking at city council,” says executive director Edna Ali, 21.
“Especially for the budget we add a different perspective, because I think a lot of the people in those discussions are focused on what’s going on now and what’s happening in the city now, but we’re also looking at 10, 20, 30, 40 years down the road too,” adds Peterson, who is the group’s budget lead.
“I think as youth we’re kind of tired of like just scraping by every year on the budget and not investing in the city now is going to have a real impact on our futures so that’s what I mean by status quo budgets.”
The youth cabinet is also challenging council for promising new initiatives without funding them in the budget.
In the preliminary 2018 budget, there are $41.2 million worth of programs and services that are not yet funded, though Tory has promised to add many to the budget. They include student nutrition, a low-income transit pass, an anti-Black racism plan and more childcare