Ontario's Youth Want a Youth-Focused Town Hall for the 2018 Provincial Elections

TORONTO, March 28, 2018 /CNW/ - Invitations were sent two weeks ago to Premier Wynne, Andrea Horwath, Doug Ford and Mike Schreiner's office for an unprecedented Youth-Focused Town Hall scheduled for the finale of Youth Week on May 7^th, 2018 at the Daniels Spectrum by a collective of organizations including the Laidlaw Foundation, TVO, For Youth Initiative and Twitter Canada. Saturday's #MarchForOurLives rally, led by young people in the United States, has outlined just how important it is for elected leaders to listen to youth voices in our political landscape.

"The historic fact that young people are often ignored in political discourse during election time needs to change especially when they have the ability to rock the vote," said Saeed Selvam, Manager of Public Policy at the Laidlaw Foundation "we want to know how the next Premier will address mounting challenges from unemployment to housing affordability, education to justice. By accepting the invitation it'll send a clear message to Ontarians that the issues and challenges that young people face, actually matter to our next Premier."

Each party leader will be provided an equal opportunity alongside their political counterparts to answer a series of questions prepared by young people from across the province. The event will be moderated by TVO host, Nam Kiwanuka to an expected in-person audience of over 250+ people. The event will be streamed live on Twitter prompting questions from across Ontario.

In partnership with the Laidlaw Foundation, the Town Hall Planning Committee consists of youth-serving and youth-led organizations from across the province including For Youth Initiative, the Ryerson Democratic Engagement Exchange, TVO, Twitter, For Youth Initiative, the Citizen Empowerment Project, the Toronto Youth Cabinet, Apathy is Boring and backed by signatories such as CivicAction, the United Way and the Remix Project.  

"If we want to build a more inclusive province, our young people need to be at the centre of how we define our issues and how we solve them," said Sevaun Palvetzian, CEO of CivicAction, "CivicAction is pleased to help these voices be heard by those applying for the public job interview of Premier."

Thus far Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario has confirmed his attendance.

The event is scheduled for two-hours marking the finale of Ontario's Youth Week on Monday, May 7th, 2018 from 1:30pm-3:30pm at Daniel's Spectrum, Ada Slaight Hall.

About the Laidlaw Foundation: The Laidlaw Foundation is a private, charitable, family-foundation established in 1949, well-known for supporting youth-led social change through funding direct action projects, research and convening.

SOURCE The Laidlaw Foundation

For media or interview related inquiries, please contact: Saeed Selvam, Manager of Public Policy, Laidlaw Foundation, 416-964-3614 x303, [email protected], www.laidlawfdn.org