We have all seen the same pictures in newspapers, community newsletters, and across social media: Youth, standing shoulder to shoulder with a politician, all smiling happily.

Typically, some message is attached to the image about how youth ‘are our future’. Or maybe the rare nod to the notion that youth are already ‘leaders of today’.

And yet, systemically, time and time again, the majority of our appointed and elected officials have failed to include youth in real decision-making. The largest, most marginalized and disenfranchised segment of our population, continuously tokenized for the photo op, yet never actually listened to. Democracy loses out. We need to do better.

In the Rooms of Power

I have spent nearly 30 years politically advocating alongside youth and working in the systems that serve them.

I have brought youth, under 18 years of age, into the rooms of power to sit with the decision makers across our country in multiple jurisdictions and in Ottawa.

I have facilitated consultations so that youth can share the subject matter expertise they possess about what is truly happening in our schools, what matters to them about ‘safety’, the gross lack of mental health supports in both rural and urban communities, the overreach of child protection services, the systemic racism they encounter continuously in the justice system, and sexual violence they are subject to by the adults meant to guide and protect them.

We cannot fix these issues without their input. Yet youth continue to be the only population group we make policies and legislation about without including them. Research continues to demonstrate that those that make attempts at youth-engagement, consultations, or youth-lead initiatives, usually fall short of actual listening.

Consultation, real consultation, takes time and money. And these are not resources typically prioritised for youth services.

In the rooms of power, our legislatures, the House of Commons, the Senate and the Prime Minister’s Office, we need all voices. Not megaphones screaming from the streets outside in protest, but from a respected and dignified seat at the table. With an audience who have the humility to listen.

Optimism for Systemic Change

Despite witnessing these repeated failures of political........

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