Sarah Seymour, 16, of Sa-Hali Secondary School has been selected to attend Canada's first ever youth policy summit in Ottawa next month.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Sarah Seymour
April 08, 2019 - 5:30 PM
KAMLOOPS — About 300 student from coast to coast have been selected to attend Canada’s first ever youth summit in Ottawa next month and Kamloops’s Sarah Seymour will be one of them.
Seymour, 16, of Sa-Hali Secondary School was selected to represent Kamloops at the two-day conference designated to bring young Canadians together to discuss issues that matter to them, according to a media release from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Seymour says she has three topics she would like to bring to the table — cannabis, vaping and technology and how those three topics affect youth.
“I would really like to hopefully ask Justin Trudeau about why he legalized [cannabis] and ask his opinion on it and hopefully talk to him about my opinion,” Seymour says.
The Grade 11 student says she has personally seen more cons than pros since legalization took place last October.
“I’ve seen a lot of negatives to it,” she says. “I think it’s really exposing kids by legalizing it to an open environment like it’s so open now and accessible and it really shouldn’t be.”
Is she in the minority among her demographic with that opinion? She's eager to find out.
“I can’t wait to hear other people’s viewpoints on topics such as the cannabis legalization and what their viewpoints are on it,” she says. “I would love to work and meet with other kids across Canada.”
She says she is curious on how the topics she wishes to discuss are impacting youth in different size cities across the country.
"We live in Kamloops, which is a small town in B.C. but what is it like say living in Toronto, Ontario?" she says.
The youth policy summit will take place on May 2 and 3. Some of the topics youths will be asked to speak on include climate change, building equal and inclusive communities and supporting jobs.
The summit will take place at Carleton University in Ottawa. Seymour says she has never been to Ontario and is excited to travel.
“I am really honoured and really excited to go,” she says. “My principal has really stood by me and really helped me during this process.”
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