About 100 English-speak- ing teens and young adults from around the province gathered at the Concordia Conference Centre in Montreal on March 15 for the seventh annual Youth Forum organized by Y4Y, a Montreal-based organiza- tion that promotes civic participation, leadership and workplace readiness for members of the English- speaking community aged 16-30.
The geographic breakdown of attendees roughly reflected the larger English-speaking
community – while the ma- jority came from the greater Montreal area, others came from Sherbrooke, Quebec City, the border town of Stanstead in the Eastern Townships, and as far away as the Gaspé. A delegation of high school students from Three Rivers Academy in Trois-Rivières also made the trip.
Y4Y board chair Madeleine Lawler, a recent graduate of law school at Université de Montréal – one of several at- tendees to have done at least part of their education in French – gave opening re- marks, alluding to the difficult political climate for English speakers in the province in recent years. “Our approach to the issues has always been
about providing a platform for English-speaking youth, build- ing bridges and building com- munity,” she said. “Today is not just about venting – it’s about brainstorming and collaborat- ing. We’re all here to learn.”
Y4Y executive assistant Alex Pettem then gave a brief over- view of the demographic situ- ation of the English-speaking community across the prov- ince, which itself challenged a number of entrenched ste- reotypes. The popular percep- tion of the English-speaking community is older and whiter than the reality, he explained, pointing out that “English- speaking communities” make up about 1.2 million of Que- bec’s eight million people. One anglophone Quebecer in three
is an immigrant, one in four is a visible minority and one in four is between the ages of 15 and 34; three out of five live in the greater Montreal area. Young English speakers have higher rates of unemployment than their francophone coun- terparts, but also higher rates of self-employment and civic participation.
Nearly three out of four young adults in the anglo- phone community consider themselves bilingual – “the highest bilingualism rate of any demographic in Canada,” Pettem said. Of the 108,000 youth eligible to attend Eng- lish public school, only about 40,000 actually do.
Despite this, Pettem said, “linguistic insecurity” – anxi-
ety or lack of confidence around language skills – is one of the most common bar- riers to employment for young anglophones, especially in outlying regions. “Most of us are fairly bilingual, but we struggle to leverage that into better opportunities,” remarked Pettem’s colleague, Caleb Owusu-Acheaw.
After the opening presenta- tions, participants took part in youth-led panel discus- sions about education, civic engagement and workforce readiness. Panelists called for an education system that is more accommodating to different learning styles; places more value on vocational skills, financial literacy, civic en- gagement and entrepreneur-
ship; and reinforces students’ French language skills in a more engaging and accessible way.
Samidha Singhal, 25, was born in India, grew up in the Toronto area and now teach- es high school English at a French-language public school in Quebec City. She said the forum helped her understand some of the political faultlines and issues facing the education system and the English-speak- ing community in her new home province. “It just shows the importance of spaces like this … to understand how the Quebec system, political movements and sensitivity around language are affecting the anglophone community,” she said.