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Katimavik budget cuts hurt youth

The best way to ensure old people get their pensions tomorrow is to invest in young people today

One aspect in the recently announced federal budget that has not received the attention it deserves is the decision to terminate funding to the Katimavik program for young people.

While we sympathize with the federal government’s desire to control spending, this decision moves in entirely the wrong direction.

Instead of terminating Katimavik, we should instead be expanding it to include all young Canadians.

Katimavik is an Inuktitut word that means “meeting place”.

The program started in the late 1970s during the Trudeau administration.

In the program, volunteers aged 17 to 21 live for six months in small groups of about 11 people. They visit different communities, work on various social projects, and learn about Canadian cultures and languages, the environment, healthy lifestyles and leadership.

It might be viewed as a non-violent and non-compulsory alternative to the national service or military draft that is common in many other countries.

In fact, the program was structured after the Canadian Cadet Organizations and included some military training in the 1980s.

Katimavik hit its peak in 1985-86 when there were 5,000 young people involved.

It was cancelled shortly thereafter by the newly elected Brian Mulroney government, but then reinstated in 1994.

Over the past few years typically a little over 1,100 volunteers at a time have been involved.

Since its inception, more than 30,000 young people have gone through Katimavik, and they have worked in over 2,000 communities.

Katimavik teams have worked in Clearwater a number of times and several local residents have taken part in the program.

This is a program that has proven its worth. Rather than eliminating it, the federal governments should expand it so it is available to all young Canadians.

We often hear of young people who are struggling to pay for their education.

Katimavik participants presently get $2 per day for incidental expenses (food, accommodation and travel are covered). This should be increased so that, at the end of their six-month stint, they have a nest egg big enough to help pay for college or trades school.

Canada is largely a nation of immigrants. Some have voiced concern that the percentage of recent immigrants is growing.

What better way to integrate new arrivals to Canada and to teach them what this country is really about than to have them do a stint with Katimavik?

The federal government also announced in the recent budget that it plans to make changes to Canadian’s pensions. The present system is unsustainable, we are told.

 

The fact is, the best way to ensure old people get their pensions tomorrow is to invest in young people today. And what better way to invest in young people than through a program such as Katimavik?