Imagine graduating from high school, with or without a real sense of what to do after, and joining a program funded 100% by the Federal Government of Canada and living in three different cities across Canada for 9 months. Away from your parents, school, your ex, all sense of domestic responsibility. This is what Katimavik provided for many Canadian youth until it was unceremoniously axed in 2012.
The Katimavik program was comprised of groups of 11 youths aged 17 to 21 all across Canada. After meeting with their fellow housemates, they would travel to three different cities within 9 months. During the 2007-2008-program year there were 99 such groups spread across Canada. Each year, Katimavik volunteers would be full-time workers aimed to assist more than 500 community non-profit organizations. Katimavik had volunteer projects in all 10 Canadian provinces and three territories. It had also signed partnerships with a number of post-secondary institutions in Canada, including Vancouver Island University, Capilano University, Quebec’s public community colleges (CEGEP), and George Brown College in order for Katimavik participants to receive post-secondary credit for their experiences. And after each youth made it to the end they were also awarded a $1000 bursary. The goal of the program’s educational component was to build the capabilities of participants in the following key areas:
- Interacting with others in a variety of situations
- Adopting an open attitude towards the diversity of social and multicultural realities
- Communicating in both official languages
- Engage in diverse work experiences
- Applying habits that favour a healthy lifestyle
- Developing an integrated vision of environmental protection and sustainable development
- Engaging as a citizen
- Preparing to integrate, as a citizen, into the job market, school or other life event
“This philosophy of accessibility is one of the reasons Katimavik is of the best youth programs available to Canadians,” says Kyle, who finished the program in 2008. Before graduating high school in 2007 he decided that he wanted to explore outside the academic stream in order to gain perspective. “[I was] told that I would be going to university and that given my marks in certain courses I should apply to maths [sic] and sciences programs. I made a firm/wobbly decision not to apply for university. I didn’t mind doing math and I found science very intriguing but I couldn’t see myself spending the next eight years pursuing it, dedicating my life to it. I opted to take time off instead with the vague plan to travel…I believe that being young today is about doing what you need to do for you despite your situation. I witness so many young people find a freedom they may not have known was theirs. I talked to people who had previously felt trapped by their situation. It could even be seen in the pamphlet I read before I applied, although I couldn’t possibly have interpreted it this way at the time, a group of young people with their arms around each other, toques and jackets, smiling, posing for a picture in the great Canadian wilderness. The freedom was written on their faces.”
With the help of his mom and a brochure Kyle applied the the Katimavik program along with countless other youth.
In Inuktitut Katimavik means “meeting place.” Founded in 1977 by Jacques Hébert (1923–2007) his vision was to “foster the personal and professional development of youth and help them gain a better understanding of Canadian diversity through community service.” Hébert would go on a 21-day hunger strike after the Mulroney Government briefly cut it until the Liberals took over office again under the helm of Jean Chrétien.
Shortly after Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s final term in office, Katimavik was in the cross hairs of a growing Conservative resurgence in Canadian politics, with them claiming the program of being “too costly.” Trudeau’s son, Justin, has since resurrected his father’s legacy by lashing out at the government for finally cutting Katimavik in 2012, comparing “Katimavik’s $14-million annual funding to the $207-million Canadian Cadets program under the Department of Defence, which…had not been cut. Katimavik’s cost of $2,000 per month per participant compares favourably with the cadets program’s monthly cost of $4,000 per participant.” Trudeau would go on to say that the Cadet program was a “wonderful” one but wanted to point out the stark contrast in funding to maybe further discuss a renegotiation into a program that has benefited so many young Canadians and could continue to do so.
There aren’t many youth-focused programs in Canada that are helping the staggering 15% unemployment, but the government seems to have no problem cutting the ones that were helping.
There are a lot of questions that many people and myself would like an answer to from the Conservative Government:
1. What are the actual savings when you take into consideration how the partnering charities now have to hire help (or interns) instead of using the free labour pool of enthusiastic young adults that Katimavik provides?
2. Have they thought about the additional burden that disadvantaged Canadians will put on the state and taxpayers when they do not receive such training and services?
3. Could we not reallocate the inflated funding the Air Cadets receive?
4. What about a scaled back version where some policies and maybe even a mandate change could still keep some youth benefitting?
We need answers, not just one Government telling us what’s good for Canadians. Maybe for a few Canadians but never the whole. If you don’t want the youth demographic to become the “forgotten generation” then I urge everyone to stand up and take back what works for Canadians and Canadian youth.
You may be wondering what Kyle is up to. Instead of being forced into an academic life of math and science, he’s since found a life where he makes a living doing what he loves, acting. When I asked him if he thought Katimavik was the reason why he’s now doing what he loves, he replied with “My first week of Katimavik I made the decision to pursue the arts. Meeting other like-minded people, artists, young people who were also in a transition period, I knew I had no choice but to ‘follow my heart’ as it were. I experienced very little theatre culture while on Katimavik, however it was my new found sense of independence and freedom that allowed me to be truthful with myself and to give myself permission to do what I wanted to do…”
