Type of Intervention: New Tool / Service / Body
Sectors Involved: Ethnic and Minority Affairs, Finance/Economy
Intervention Categories: Planning and strategy; Creating and using advisory groups or committees; Finance policy and financial aid; Stimulus packages and financial support
Level of Jurisdiction: Ontario
Lead People/Agency: 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.
Overview: The Ontario government announced the creation of the Premier’s Council on Equality and Opportunity, an advisory group that provides guidance on how young people can overcome social and economic barriers as well advise the government on long-term actions that can be taken to support youth during the COVID-19 outbreak. The council will be intergenerational and cross-sector, focusing on the challenges facing youth in Ontario today. The Council’s immediate priority is to identify strategies to support vulnerable and marginalized youth to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, the Ontario government announced a $1.5 million investment into funding organizations that support Black families and youth in attempts to provide urgent supports for Black children, families, and youth.
Full details here: https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/06/ontario-creates-premiers-council-on-equality-of-opportunity.html
Type of Justification: Advice of INTERNAL government advisory committee or group
Evidence/Justification: The announcement lists statistics, but does not provide citations nor links for this evidence. The statistics include: “In March 2020, Statistics Canada reported that the national unemployment rate for youth aged 15-24 was 16.8 per cent as a result of COVID-19, the highest rate for this group since June 1997”, “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”, and, “Approximately one in ten Ontario youth between the ages of 15 and 24 can be classified as not being in education, employment or training”. In addition, the government explains that the council is part of helping the next generation of leaders overcome social and economic barriers. It is also explained that the knowledge and insight provided by the Council will help the government remove barriers that prevent achievement of economic goals by youth.