Ontario’s youth plan is modest but in strong hands
His task: spin wisps of straw into buckets of political gold.
Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s children and youth minister, came close. The “Youth Action Plan” he unveiled Wednesday featured 20 initiatives. It promised sustained funding. It demonstrated the government’s balanced approach; getting guns off the streets and addressing the root causes of violence. And it won the approval of community leaders and youth workers.
He produced the blueprint in 30 days, fulfilling a commitment made by Premier Dalton McGuinty in the wake of last month’s fatal multiple shooting on Danzig Street. He did it with a fraction of the money required to unsnarl the complex tangle of poverty, anger, drugs, guns, gangs and racial stereotyping that breeds violence. He made up in words what it lacked in substance.
“No child should be disadvantaged because of where they live, the colour of their skin, their socio-economic status or their religion,” Hoskins declared as he unveiled the strategy at the downtown YMCA. “We believe in the potential of all young people: we will support them to stay on a positive path and we won’t give up on those who go off track.”
The rookie minister, a respected doctor who spent the past 25 years saving children’s lives in war zones, introduced the plan with passion and conviction. He talked about the talent and creativity he’d seen in violenceracked neighbourhoods, the eagerness of the business community to pitch in and good will waiting to be marshaled in the city.
It wasn’t until he mentioned funding — $20 million for the entire package — that the spell broke.
That is barely enough to buttress existing youth programs. And, on close examination, that is exactly what the government aims to do. It will create 800 more jobs for young people (summer and after-school) in the GTA; add 35 youth outreach workers to the current 62; convert its soon-to-expire Youth Challenge Fund into a permanent Youth Opportunities Fund and top up Ontario’s 155 parent and youth centres (for preschoolers) with 17 new ones. All of these measures are extensions or enhancements.
The only new elements of the plan were the creation of an Action Committee on Youth Opportunities, the appointment of Alvin Curling, a prominent black leader and former Liberal MPP, as a “strategic adviser” to Hoskins and the development of “an evidence-based evaluation program.” These affect bureaucrats and lobbyists, not kids.
The rest of the strategy was built on the hope the federal government, which has contributed nothing so far, would get involved; and Toronto, whose mayor Rob Ford has scorned “hug-athug” programs, would come aboard.
In a meeting with Star writers and editors, Hoskins was adamant that his plan should not be measured by its price tag. “It’s about much more than money,” he said, pointing to the importance of building strong partnerships, getting everybody to work together, staying the course and listening to young people.
But when a government spends $132 million a day on health care and $20 million a year on a “Youth Action Plan,” it sends a message.
When a response to an urgent need has to be financed out of internal savings — Hoskins couldn’t or wouldn’t say what was sacrificed — it shows how inflexible the premier’s deficit-cutting agenda is.
When a cabinet minister resorts to phrases such as “impactful” and “spectacular engagement,” it strongly suggests he or she is pumping up a modest policy offering.
None of this was Hoskins’ fault. He did a lot with a little.
The best news out of the announcement was that Ontario has a government that is willing to invest in young people and a minister for youth who listens to kids, respects them, is working hard to earn their trust and won’t pull the plug when the spotlight moves on. Carol Goar’s and Friday.