Staff
With word earlier this summer that the Youth Action Alliance will be terminated as of Aug. 31, the Northwestern Health Unit’s board of health is asking town council to support a plea to Premier Dalton McGuinty to keep the anti-tobacco program alive at least a little longer.
The board of health passed a resolution at its June 26 meeting, and shortly afterwards board chair John Albanese drafted a letter to be sent to the premier outlining their concerns about the Ministry of Health Promotion’s decision to discontinue the YAA, a component of the Smoke-Free Ontario program, and redirect resources to the ministry’s new Youth Engagement Strategy.
“We support the move to a more integrated focus for youth development,” Albanese wrote.
“However, we are concerned about the termination of the YAA program before the emerging Youth Engagement Strategy is rolled out because it will result in a significant loss of capacity within our health unit to deliver youth development programming.
“With the assumption that the new program would still require support staff to work with youth, it is regrettable that current youth staff must be terminated as they will likely take their youth worker skills with them—skills that are a result of expensive training and difficult to replace easily or quickly,” Albanese added.
“Extending the YAA program until the new Youth Engagement Strategy is implemented would facilitate a smooth transition of one program to the other, including the retention of valuable highly-trained youth staff,” he reasoned.
Albanese wrote that ending the YAA prior to a new program starting will result in a loss of “public momentum” that’s been created.
“This momentum is currently focused on advocacy for municipal bylaws and policies for tobacco-free sports and recreation, and advocacy work at the federal level to remove flavours from tobacco products that target youth,” he noted.
The resolution up for council’s support asks that the Ministry of Health Promotion delay the termination of the YAA until the new Youth Engagement Strategy is ready to roll out in order for youth staff to be retained and a measure of continuity ensured for the current anti-tobacco program.
The resolution also has been sent to the premier and other relevant provincial representatives, as well as to other municipalities within the health unit’s catchment area, all other public health boards in Ontario, the Association of Local Public Health Agencies, and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.
Tonight’s council meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.
The committee of the whole will meet first at 5:30 p.m., but is scheduled to be in-camera until 7, after which time the public portion of the meeting will resume upstairs in council chambers.
Other business on the agenda for the meeting includes:
•a report on a capital purchase (new ice resurfacer);
•a request from the Northwestern Health Unit for rental of the auditorium;
•a request from property owners at 325 and 318 Third St. E. to plant trees;
•a request from the Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition to install pedestrian benches;
•a verbal update on local projects from Community Services manager George Bell;
•a financial request from Cross Canada Century Flight 2009;
•a verbal update on local projects from Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown;
•a request from Tom Veert re: Scott Street reconstruction project;
•a bylaw to amend Bylaw 06/06, as amended, to establish retention periods for documents and records of the Town of Fort Frances;
•a bylaw to authorize entering into a lease renewal agreement with John Myers at the Fort Frances Municipal Airport; and
•a bylaw to authorize entering into a retention agreement with The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company with respect to employee group insurance coverage.
