Chiefs of Ontario Policy Forum
December 4th, 2007

Justin Logan Speaking Notes

Good afternoon. My name is Justin Logan, member of the Delaware First Nation, and currently a member of the Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council, where I am the male youth representative for the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians.

I want to acknowledge all the sacred items and Elders that are with us. I want to thank you all for allowing me to be present, and to be heard today.

I am here to deliver an important message from the Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council to the participants of the Chiefs of Ontario Policy Forum, specifically to the leadership that are in attendance.

Briefly, I will explain who we are and why I am here today. The Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council was formally established in 2004 by the Chiefs in Ontario to represent the Youth of the Ontario First Nations. Our mandate is be the voice and lobbyist for youth on all matters that impact on our lives and on our future generations. As a regional youth council, we are responsible to take the lead to ensure the voice of local youth is heard at all levels of government.

Today I am the voice of the OFNYPC, and this is the message I am responsible to deliver to this forum. The Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council is asking the leadership to support the development and implementation of youth led governing and decision making processes at the local and PTO level. We ask specifically for support in the formation and establishment of local youth councils that will form the foundation of our Ontario regional youth council. Currently we are operating like a chair without legs. We have a seat but we do not have the legs that are required to support our governing body.

There are a number of local youth councils in existence, but the numbers are too few, and even they are struggling without proper support and resources. Without the support of their leadership and community resources, they are unable to provide adequate representation at the PTO and Ontario regional level, thus their voices are not heard and their specific needs are not being addressed.

We need you to support the youth from a local and PTO youth council. We respectively request that you allocate whatever resources you can to support them. It is also important you actively participate and contribute to the success of our community and regional youth councils. The youth voice from your community will play a key role in shaping the decisions of our regional youth council. We need you to help us create a communication link and unity between all our First Nation youth groups across Ontario.

To support our peers, OFNYPC has created a toolkit designed to support youth between the ages of 15 to 29 establish a voice in their community through the formation of a local youth council. The OFNYPC Youth Council Development Toolkit provides valuable information and resources to guide youth in the development and operation of their youth councils. We are prepared to share our toolkit with the leaders and youth development workers at the community level.

In closing, I want to state, “We are often told we are the future leaders.” We want you to respect us as young leaders of today, moving forward as your future leaders. We must be engaged and involved at all planning and decision making processes so that we may carry the legacy of your leadership into the future. Whatever you decide today will affect our future and that of our future generations. In that respect, I want to reiterate how important it is that you provide us with the support we need today. Thank you.