Local youth are ‘taking action’

Local youth were among more than 500 peer leaders from Youth Action Alliances across the province who gathered in London, Ontario for the third-annual [take!action] Youth Summit on May 23-25, 2008.
Sixteen youth from Northwestern Ontario, including James McInerney, a student at Fort Frances High School, represented the region at the weekend summit.
Participants attended workshops on topics such as Aboriginal sacred tobacco, tobacco-free sports and Third World tobacco issues.
MuchMusic VJ Matt Babel and War Child founder Dr. Samantha Nutt were keynote speakers at the conference. They shared their diverse experiences to inspire the youth to be all they could be.
Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best was in attendance and received thousands of postcards signed by people from across the province in support of the government addressing Third World tobacco issues.
The youth asked her to bring the postcards to her Canadian government counterparts to lobby for better enforcement of the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control.
McInerney, a peer leader who attended the summit from Rainy River, reported that he learned a lot about the use of video and media to spread awareness.
“We worked quite a bit on the creation of tobacco related short-films. It’s amazing what can be done with a little work to present a message in a creative way. It was also very fun,” he said.
Youth Action Alliance peer leaders from Northwestern Ontario are planning to bring the issue of smoking in parks and beaches forward in their communities with an event on Aug. 12, also known as the International Day of Youth.
Some local peer leaders are also working to raise awareness around the region about chew tobacco use in sports and hope to be able to influence coaches and players to be tobacco-free.
Youth Action Alliances are funded through Smoke-Free Ontario and driven by youth who aim to engage their peers about the dangers of using tobacco industry products.
Local peer leaders are available to speak to community or school groups and can be contacted through local Northwestern Health Unit offices.