By Sara Couper
The Ottawa Youth Cabinet may be cut in half after a recommendation in the governance review report developed by city staff is examined by city council.
If the recommendation is adopted, the cabinet will drop from 21 members, who represent each ward of Ottawa, to a nine- to 11-member advisory committee that represents the whole city.
The cabinet is a group of 21 young people, aged 15 to 25, who represent each ward in Ottawa and act as a link between Ottawa’s youth and city council. The goal of the planned cuts is to make the cabinet more effective.
Stephani Roy McCallum, program manager of policies and projects for the city, says the cabinet has had problems keeping members, so with fewer people more decisions could be made.
“Right now, the cabinet isn’t working as envisioned because of the number of vacancies and the problems recruiting youth,” says McCallum, adding that if the recommendation is adopted, the cabinet’s mandate to represent the needs of youth in Ottawa will not change.
Five voting members and three reserve members have resigned from the cabinet since June 2003.
This year, seven meetings were cancelled, three because there were not enough members in attendance.
Innis Ward Coun. Rainer Bloess, who attends the cabinet meetings as an adviser says the loss of members is a result of their terms in the cabinet ending.
“There is a heavy workload,” says Bloess. “Some people think it’s just too much commitment.”
He says he understands how an advisory committee of nine to 11 members could make quicker decisions and be less likely to cancel meetings, but he still strongly supports keeping the full cabinet in tact.
McCallum says the problem is filling the empty spaces that resigned cabinet members leave.
Any current vacancies will not be filled until later this month after city council makes its decision about the recommendation.
Nathan Hauch, who recently resigned as cabinet member for Somerset Ward, says the cabinet might expect too much from the members if they have to work, go to school and volunteer.
However, Hauch supports the cabinet and says he found it successful.
The cabinet formed the Ad-hoc Graffiti Subcommittee in 2001 to track the sources of graffiti in Ottawa and try to prevent it. A Skateboarding Subcommittee was also created to work in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. Its goal is to build a public skateboarding area for youth. Both projects are still in the works.