Social Policy in Ontario

Katimavik could be a powerful tool for indigenous reconciliation

Posted on February 17, 2016 in Inclusion Debates

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TheStar.com – Opinion/Commentary – By restoring the Katimavik youth program, the federal government would provide young Canadians a means to help repair Canada’s relationship with its Aboriginal Peoples
Feb 17 2016.   By: Saga Williams and Ehsan Monfared

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set some lofty and exciting national goals for youth, including announcing $25 million to help young Canadians get on track in work and in their lives.

At the same time, building on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Trudeau has called on Canadians to repair our relationship with Indigenous peoples in an atmosphere of respect and partnership.
There’s a way to do both, helping young people and building bridges across communities — Katimavik.

Now is a perfect opportunity for a 2.0 version of the national youth service program that worked before and was killed by the previous Conservative government. Over some 40 years, Katimavik engaged youth in volunteerism to attain priorities of national importance, including learning about different Canadian communities. It was designed to breed understanding and acceptance across cultural, linguistic, geographic and socioeconomic divides.

With new thinking and a new focus it can rise again, as a cost-effective vehicle for furthering our new national goals of reconciliation.

It’s not as widely known as it should be, but Katimavik worked well. More than 35,000 participants gained valuable skills through volunteer service before Stephen Harper’s government pulled its funding nearly four years ago. Since the October 2015 election, some 10,000 of those former participants sent Trudeau a petition asking for Katimavik’s core funding to be reinstated.

Katimavik gave participating youth an opportunity to do six to nine months of community service in at least two different communities in Canada. Volunteers made personal contributions to not-for-profit organizations, developed a better appreciation of Canada’s diversity, learned group living skills, and ecologically sound and healthy living habits.

Surveys of the 35,000 former participants have shown that more than 90 per cent say Katimavik “changed their lives,” and that it was a “transformative experience” enabling them to make more relevant career choices and live a more engaged life.

Similarly, 90 per cent of community partners have said that the contributions of the young volunteers enabled them to accomplish goals or projects they could not otherwise have achieved, and that they would recommend that other not-for-profits partner with Katimavik.

What is even less known is that despite the previous government’s attempt to starve it, Katimavik has been working away quietly, in slimmed-down form and with minimal funds. We would like you to know that it has continued to provide both the youth experience and bridge-building that would benefit more Canadians if it were better supported.

Since June 2014, Katimavik’s major focus has been on Indigenous youth. Building on its proven learning model and the benefits of community volunteer work, Katimavik created a partnership with the Indigenous Studies Department’s First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University, and with central Ontario’s Sir Sandford Fleming College to create an approach called Indigenous Youth in Transition (IYIT).

IYIT focuses on indigenous youth, aged 18 to 30, who are looking for good ways to build on their strengths, pursue training and education, participate in the job market and make a meaningful contribution to their families and communities. The program includes enhanced Indigenous language and cultural education.

So far, the success of the participants has been impressive. It would be more impressive if it had the resources and the backup of a national program to engage diverse youth from across Canada.

It’s time for our government to look at Katimavik 2.0. If, indeed, “Canada is back,” our youth should be at the forefront of bringing reconciliation, and Katimavik is an excellent way to help.

It won’t be the same — it can be better. Canadians born after 1995 are engaged and civic-minded, the first generation to have known social media and technology as primary sources of learning.

The upcoming federal budget is an opportunity for the government to enhance programs like this — a new meaningful contribution to a more inclusive, respectful, and just and secure society, making positive inroads, connecting Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.

Anishnaabe lawyer Saga Williams is Vice-Chair of Katimavik’s Board of Directors. Ehsan Monfared is a Katimavik alumnus and former Board Member.

< http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/02/17/katimavik-could-be-a-powerful-tool-for-indigenous-reconciliation.html >

Tags: budget, housing, Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living

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