First of all, it is important to define what Jeunesse Territoires du Nord-Ouest represents. This service has been in place for more than seven years and we are members of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne française or FJCF. Young people in the NWT can therefore take part in national activities developed by the FJCF or by members of the network, in addition to our activities.
Our mission is to enable young French-speaking residents of the NWT to get together to enjoy stimulating experiences while developing their full potential. Our vision is to instill in young people aged 12 to 25 a sense of belonging to their cultural community, thereby contributing to its vitality.
Because of its leadership role in the North, Jeunesse T.N.-O. is the only organization to have a committee composed of young people who, this year, come from both Yellowknife and Hay River. The committee's name is Comité Action Jeunesse or CAJ. It advises the Coordinator of Jeunesse T.N.-O on the direction to be taken with a view to organizing activities and events that reflect the reality and interests of young people in the Northwest Territories. The youth representative on the committee sits on the board of directors of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française.
Advocating a philosophy of “by and for youth”, the youth service of the FFT seeks contexts which are likely to foster the development of a sense of leadership, empowerment, and participation on the part of young people, so that they are able to reach their full potential. Our actions are therefore planned in cooperation with youth in the North so that they are engaged in their community. For the NWT, 30 participants is the equivalent of 300 in Alberta.
Since the establishment of the youth service, a lot of changes have occurred that have made it possible to offer more activities to young Francophones in the Territories. Moving beyond services just for young people in Yellowknife, now it is possible for youth from across the NWT to be involved in our activities, thereby breaking the isolation created by vast distances. By becoming members of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française, young people are now able to leave their immediate area to meet up with participants from all over the country.
It is at these get-togethers that our young people form a collective identity which allows them to form social relations and think about the issues that help them to build their personal identity. With respect to our accomplishments, here are a couple of key results from recent years.
Sexo Quiz, a quiz about sexual health, is a project that was carried out through our partnership with Réseau T.N.-O santé en français. The Franco-Nord camp de leadership, organized in partnership with the Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Radio Taïga and l'Aquilon, was an opportunity for young people aged 15 to 25 to explore the art of journalism for an action-packed weekend in the City of Yellowknife. A cultural camp also took place this summer in Fort Smith with 18 Francophile participants. The Rassemblement Jeunesse nordique offers a chance to explore northern and aboriginal traditions. Thanks to Canadian Heritage, the wide variety of activities offered during the first three editions of the program has made this event very popular with our young people. The latest edition saw twice as many participants. Unfortunately, because of a lack of funding for recurring projects, Jeunesse T.N.-O. was not able to present its fourth edition of the event, even though it was in demand by young people in Northern and Western Canada.
The Forum Multimédia, which is also funded by Canadian Heritage, made it possible to hold an innovative interterritorial event that allowed young people to use new media and learn more about occupations which held a certain fascination for them. A DVD by Stop Motion was produced and presented at the Yellowknife Film Festival. That forum, which attracted 30 or more participants, was a great success and, once again, responding to general demand, Jeunesse T.N.-O. submitted a re-drafted application for the project to the interterritorial fund with a view to meeting the needs and interests of young people in the three territories.
The initiative known as Yeux du Nord allowed Jeunesse T.N.-O., through the Francofonds, to travel to communities in the three territories to introduce French-speaking youth to the technique of making films in 8 mm. A DVD entitled “On a perdu le Nord” came out of that project. It was also presented at the Yellowknife Film Festival and was showcased at the Northern Pavilion during the Olympic Games.
Our future projects focus even more on fulfilling the full potential of young people, their community involvement and support for French-language communities by Jeunesse T.N.-O. Jeunesse T.N.-O. is proud of the fact that it has been able to establish and maintain collaborative links with Francophone organizations in the North and the West. New relationships have been forged and that continues to be the case. The community education connection is also of critical importance in order to coordinate our actions and ensure that the Francophone community is a choice constituency for French-speaking young people in the NWT.
With that in mind, Jeunesse T.N.-O. launched a project for apprentice cooks, which is intended to teach young people how to cook and, at the same time, promote healthy eating habits and prevent obesity in Yellowknife and Hay River. For a two-year period that begins in September, the project will be a catalyst for the creation of a credit program in cooking that will be taught by the École Allain St-Cyr during development of the second phase.
The L.A.M.A. project, which could reach more than 400 youth in the three territories, refers to leadership, development, mobilization and action. For young people in the North, this is the project that will give real meaning to the term “leadership”. The project will unfold in four phases and involves seven training sessions and five specific actions to be taken by young people in the community. It is aimed at citizen engagement among young people in their communities.
School staff already have a heavy burden, community players are overworked, budgets are limited and everyone is running out of steam. We must prepare the next generation of community workers. This project has resulted in incredible unity among the partners, who are 10 in number. They are now expressing their desire to take action to maximize the youth contribution. One teacher who recently talked to me about the importance of our extracurricular activities said that the young people tended to speak French in school the day after, rather than English, which sometimes happens.
Young people in the North who speak French need the support of Jeunesse T.N.-O. in order to have access to this kind of experience in French. Thus they can learn how to take their rightful place and discover their own personality. We rely on federal assistance to carry out this project, which was submitted under the program Les jeunes s'engagent.
At Jeunesse T.N.-O., we are currently developing our Équipe TNO. However, because we have no sporting status, we are unable to benefit from the support of territorial sporting associations, which makes it difficult to secure sponsorships. We rely on volunteers, which makes our job particularly difficult, but, through Young Canada Works, we are able to hire a welcome resource.
A sporting clinic project for a two-year period which involves Sports-Québec, specifically includes training for coaches. It will be presented to the SAIC after this year's edition in Sudbury, with a view to creating better visibility for the Équipe TNO.
Jeunesse T.N.-O. is also partnering with the Association franco-culture de Yellowknife and will be presenting the first Festi-Film jeunesse en français in one week's time in Yellowknife. A cultural camp for youth from Fort Smith, Yellowknife and Hay River is currently in preparation for the coming summer.
In closing, despite its long-term vision for minority youth, and the vitality of its coordinator and all the assistants who provide support through critical programs like Young Canada Works or Programme d'emploi jeunesse francophone, the support of a youth committee for whom the Francophone community means a lot, and partnerships with community players who believe in developing skills in young people, Jeunesse T.N.-O. is facing considerable challenges.
Our services do not have the benefit of recurring funding. That is why Jeunesse T.N.-O. is trying to diversify its revenue sources in order to remain a positive model for youth. The project funding formula makes it practically impossible to organize recurring events. Because of that, it is difficult to create traditions among young people and allow them to adopt a positive attitude towards the Francophone community. There are shortcomings in terms of the departments' obligation to put us on the funding track. Furthermore, the fact that a number of government players don't understand the northern reality means that we have to work even harder to have our projects accepted and funded.
The low level of interest in the Francophone community among young people, because of gaps in infrastructure and programming, results in a lack of participation on their part. They do not see the Francophone community as particularly attractive, so that preventing their assimilation by the majority becomes a significant challenge. Simply mentioning that our two French-language schools still do not have a gymnasium is enough to illustrate that fact.
Finally, the isolation of our communities as a result of their geographic location makes it difficult to bring people in, and yet that is an essential part of forming a youth identity. The very high costs of transportation means that there are fewer activities, fewer participants and therefore less visibility, despite the considerable efforts devoted to this by Jeunesse T.N.-O.
On behalf of young French-speaking residents of the NWT, I would like to thank you for your attention and I hope that you enjoy the rest of your stay here.