Today, the Ontario government announced the Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity, a new advisory group that will provide advice on how young people can overcome social and economic barriers and achieve success. The council will also advise government on long-term actions that can be taken to support youth during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Details were provided by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Todd Smith, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, and Jamil Jivani, Ontario's Advocate for Community Opportunities.

The council will have up to 20 members, including a chair and a vice-chair. Membership will be intergenerational and cross-sector, and will include youth between the ages of 18 to 29 and adults with expertise from community organizations, not-for-profit businesses, education, and government services.

The council will focus on the challenges facing young people today, such as completing an education, skills training, and employment. As an immediate priority, the council will identify strategies to support vulnerable and marginalized youth to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Jamil Jivani, Ontario's Advocate for Community Opportunities, will serve as chair of the council for the first year. He will work to engage directly with young people and communities across the province to identify strategies to remove barriers for youth at risk to help ensure they are not left behind.

The Ontario government is further supporting Black communities to address the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 by allocating $1.5 million in funding to organizations that support Black families and youth. This funding will be used to provide urgent COVID-19 supports and address the immediate needs of children, youth and families.

"The Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity will allow our government to hear directly from those who have faced economic challenges in our province," said Minister Smith.

Those interested in joining the council are invited to apply to the Public Appointments Secretariat by Thursday, June 18, 2020. Eligible candidates should have expertise in areas such as community service, business, education, and government services such as youth justice and child welfare.

Young people are overrepresented in precarious and low-wage work. Forty per cent of Canada’s millennials are employed through temporary, short-term or freelance jobs. Approximately one in ten Ontario youth between the ages of 15 and 24 can be classified as not being in education, employment or training (NEET).

“I support the creation of this youth council, which never should have been cancelled in the first place. But this is clearly damage control from the Premier’s earlier denial that Canada has a systemic racism problem.

Two days ago, instead of expressing solidarity with the Black community amidst the largest anti-racism demonstrations in decades, the Premier downplayed Ontario’s racism problem. We cannot allow one positive announcement to distract from the Premier’s failure to act on the goals of the Anti-Racism Act.

As city councillor, Doug Ford belittled anti-poverty initiatives as ‘hug-a-thug’ programs and as Premier his government cut $25 million from community programs for at-risk youth.

I urge the Premier to change course and invest in programs that combat systemic anti-Black racism and support at-risk youth.”

source: media releases, Province of Ontario, MPP Mike Schreiner