Five strong young leaders shared their voices with Members of Parliament (MPs) on a trip to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, ON with Right To Play this spring. Representing their communities and their peers on May 15-16, 2019 were PLAY program participants from 3 provinces: Danny Charles from Beecher Bay First Nation, BC; Zoe Duhaime from Wahnapitae First Nation, ON; Tyler Evans from St. Theresa Point First Nation, MB; and Evangeline Martin and Shayna Russell from Gitanyow, BC.

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The ’Turn Up the Volume’ trip to Ottawa was offered as part of Right To Play’s Youth Engagement Strategy (YES) – a special initiative designed for youth to influence the PLAY program and build skills they want to work on. Youth participants have said they are seeking more opportunities to develop their leadership skills, practice public speaking and travel outside their communities. The goals of the Turn Up the Volume trip were for youth to be able to do all of these things, and have an opportunity to speak directly to elected officials about issues that are important to them.

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Back row, from left: Micah Anshan (Right To Play), The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Ann-Marie Recollet (chaperone), Rose Lipton (Right To Play), Brendan McCardle (Right To Play), Louis Charles Mason, (chaperone). Front row, from left (youth): Danny Charles, Zoe Duhaime, Eva Martin, Shayna Russell, Tyler Evans.

“[I was] mostly curious about how politics works,” says 17-year-old Shayna (Gitxsan) about her motivation to apply for a spot on the trip. Over the two days, Shayna and her four peers participated in sessions with Global Public Affairs and Crestview Strategy, where they learned more about the government system, the roles and responsibilities of elected officials and how to prepare for their meetings with MPs.

They then hit the road to meet with Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, MP Jenny Kwan, and MP Bob Nault, where they raised issues such as pipelines, safety, education, mental health and more.

“In a way, it gave me my voice.”
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Back row, from left: Micah Anshan (Right To Play), The Honourable Bob Nault, MP, Eva Martin (youth), Zoe Duhaime (youth), Brendan McCardle (Right To Play), Tyler Evans (youth). Front row, from left: Danny Charles (youth), Shayna Russell (youth), MP Marc Serre, Ann-Marie Recollet (chaperone), Rose Lipton (Right To Play).

The youth were formally welcomed to Question Period by MP Nault, and their names now appear in the official record of Parliament! Later that day, they hosted a reception for a crowd of 40 people alongside MP Todd Doherty, MP Kwan and MP Nault. The youth opened the evening with introductions, led a game and shared posters and presentations they had created about their communities.

“It definitely improved my public speaking skills and planning skills. I’m hoping that will make me a great leader one day. It gives me confidence that I could speak aloud in public speeches now,” Shayna says about the impact of the trip. “In a way, it gave me my voice.”

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Shayna Russell (right) presents a poster about her community and PLAY program in Gitanyow at the reception event.

Right To Play looks forward to continuing to engage young leaders in the program and through a variety of leadership opportunities.