July 22, 2023

By Valentina Shamoun and Sydney John-Baptise, both Torontonians and members of BGC Canada’s National Youth Council

Dear Future Mayor – Toronto is a vibrant, multicultural city. The sheer number of traditions and opportunities – from jobs to culture to entertainment – draw people from around the world to live, study and work here. But without young people, this vibrancy is at risk.

Young people are finding it harder and harder to live here. We kept hearing that coming out of the pandemic, the city would come roaring back to life – prosperity, fun and relief that the worst was behind us and we could work toward fixing our city’s problems. It doesn’t feel that way living in Toronto these days. We are finding it hard to feel optimistic about our future here.

Dear Mayor, how are you going to help revive our city?

Young people can barely live here anymore. Did you know that the average age of Torontonians is now over 40? The average rent is over $2,500/month which is impossible for most young people to afford, pushing us further and further out to the edges of the city or out of the GTA altogether. We constantly hear that ‘young people don’t want to work’, especially in entry-level jobs, retail, and hospitality. That’s not it – we just can’t afford to live in Toronto and make those wages. Why would we commute into the city to make $16 an hour? Many of us are trying to get by on insufficient OSAP funds, piecing together part-time work, orare already drowning in student debt. It can take us an hour and a half to get from Scarborough to downtown in rush hour, each way. That’s 15 hours a week we could be working or studying instead. It just doesn’t make sense. We are worried about what downtown Toronto will look like in 5 or 10 years. Where will youth fit in?

What are you going to do immediately about violence on the TTC? Because most of us don’t feel safe. Ridership is down since pre-pandemic levels, but violence is up. Teens, especially young women, are taking the streetcar to the GO train in some areas because it’s not safe to be underground after dark with no cell service. It’s an expensive and inconvenient option that we resent. Dear Mayor, why does a world-class city not have cell service on subway trains in 2023? Youth don’t care about battles with big telecom. We cannot wait two years for this to happen – every day without it makes stepping underground feel like a roll of the dice.

How do you plan to advocate for marginalized youth and provide more mental health resources? More than 300 students have been involved in violent incidents so far this year. There is clearly a crisis in our schools. Students who are struggling, especially those with special needs, have been chronically under-served. Will you fight for equitable education and everyone’s right to feel safe in the classroom?

Dear Mayor, when was the last time you worked in the community? Spoke to someone who is unhoused unless you were in front a camera? Most youth want a mayor who has spent years working in the community because it’s the only way to truly understand the crisis going on now. The kind of mayor who cares less about showing up at the Pride Parade for a photo op and more about keeping trans kids safe and advocating for the health of 2S & LGBTQIA+ youth on a daily basis.

Dear Future Mayor, please don’t think we’ve lost hope. Young people need things to change and need you to show us you can get things done. Let us be a part of the strength of this great city we love so much.

Read more:

• National Youth Council Statement on Anti-Trans Legislation
• National Youth Council Statement on Mental Health

By Shannon, Tyrell, Katie, and James, members of BGC Canada’s National Youth Council

If, like us, you were born in the last 20 years, chances are you’re reading this on a smartphone and you haven’t looked up recently. In 2016, 76% of Canadians owned a smartphone, and that number is increasing rapidly every year. As youth today, we have lived most of our lives in a world where smartphones are commonplace, and the impact of these devices is just starting to be uncovered. Recent media coverage in outlets ranging from The Atlantic to Chatelaine and Maclean’s has pointed to the toll that these devices can have on youth mental health.

As members of BGC Canada’s National Youth Council, we are responsible for representing youth voices in our communities, and we have seen first-hand the debilitating effect that devices can have on teens’ lives. In a recent article, psychologist Jean Twenge wrote that it “is not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.”

As young people, we need to work together to protect ourselves, and future generations, from the effects that new technologies are having on our mental health. That’s why we called on all Canadians to join us on June 1 to Unplug to Connect by spending one hour away from their devices, engaging with family, friends, and peers face-to-face.

As members of BGCC’s National Youth Council, we were consulted to help shape this BGC initiative. We knew that for an event like Unplug to Connect to be successful, we needed to bring our generation’s perspective to the table—and our Club experiences.

At BGC, youth spend time away from their phones every day, and we know that’s part of the reason our Clubs foster supportive, lasting relationships—relationships that help young people live happier, healthier lives. And the research agrees: young people who have regular, meaningful interactions with others are more likely to say they’re in better health than those who spend a significant amount of time on social media. When young people are part of a welcoming, cooperative community, they have a reason to put away their phones and interact with those around them.

When you think about the way that most people interact with social media, it’s easy to understand why it can take a major toll on our self-esteem. Social media posts are carefully curated to show only the best aspects of a person’s life. While it’s easy to acknowledge that social media is not a reflection of reality, it can be hard to separate what you see on social media from the rest of your life when you spend so much time looking at your friends and family through the lens of their profiles.

Canadians are spending almost five hours a day on their phones, and the problem isn’t just what they’re looking at, it’s also what they’re looking away from. When you’re on your phone constantly, you can forget what it means to have a genuine interaction with the people around you. You can lose the ability to live in the moment and, even if you’re surrounded by friends, it’s possible to feel completely isolated because you’re not engaging with them in a meaningful way.

It’s not realistic to ask people to throw away their smartphones. However, we can advocate for moderation. Less time on digital media, and more time socializing face-to-face—an activity that is linked to greater happiness.

At our Clubs, kids, youth, and mentors make the most of their time together. On June 1, we proved that when you put your phone down, amazing things can happen.

See all the action from the day on social media with #UnplugToConnect and follow @BGCCAN.