High school students write letters for a Youth Climate Corps
A few weeks ago, a group of high school students were traveling by train from Victoria, BC to Ottawa on a cross-country field trip. Along the way, they stopped in downtown Vancouver to meet with Climate Emergency Unit team lead Seth Klein to deliver 40 applications for Youth Climate Corps jobs.
This action was part of a larger campaign to collect hundreds of cover letters from youth across so-called Canada. On November 30, Climate Emergency Unit staff and volunteers will be hand-delivering these letters to the Minister of Youth, Marci Ien, in Toronto. (RSVP to this event in Toronto here)
The high schoolers who submitted their applications reflect a generation that is ready to tackle the climate emergency. A generation eager for meaningful sustainable job opportunities.
Earlier this year, we saw a similar fervor when young people delivered nearly one hundred mock cover letters to Minister Carla Qualtrough’s office in Vancouver to declare support for a YCC. That action was covered by the CBC and has inspired a similar action that will take place in Toronto.
What is a Youth Climate Corps?
The YCC would be a federally-funded job training and placement program that would offer a good, green job to any young person who wanted one. No one would be turned away.
Our vision for a YCC is one that will transform our economy away from fossil fuels without leaving workers behind. One that will provide good paying jobs that are meaningful. And one that gives every young person a place to belong in a world that too often feels frightening, lonely and hopeless.
We were heartened when a recent poll by Abacus Data showed that the idea of a Youth Climate Corps is supported by the majority of Canadians! Read more and view the poll results here.
Similar programs already exist, such as the BC Youth Climate Corps and Wildsight’s Youth Climate Corps, that train young people to work in a variety of climate jobs like forest management and renewable energy. These groups are doing incredible work that is so needed in our communities. The problem is: these programs are small-scale. We’re pushing for a Canada-wide job program in order to work toward a just transition at the scale that’s needed.
We can win a Youth Climate Corps. And it will change our lives!
That’s why we are calling on the federal government to fund a national Youth Climate Corps led by communities. The skills gained, the communities served, and the impact on the climate crisis are all within reach—if only the government would recognize the urgency and provide the necessary funding.
Help us show the government that people all across the nation are ready to enlist in a Youth Climate Corps. Take 5 minutes to customize a mock cover letter. We will deliver it to Minister Marci Ien’s office on November 30!