Youth resources

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Brandy Killeen feels like the kids in Kazabazua aren’t dreaming big enough.

The municipality’s newest councillor says that there aren’t enough resources for up-the-line youth  – especially those aged 18 to 34 – and she’s working with the region’s Be and Become Youth Centre to change that. 

“In this area, I find there’s a disconnect between high school-aged kids and those who are 34 years old,” said Killeen. “We have resources for everyone in the two schools, but then, when they’re out of school or when they’re getting to an age when they are leaving high school, for example, there’s that drop off where a lot of youth don’t get anywhere –  they don’t get the resources they need.”

Some of these “resources” she referred to are simple things like giving youth access to computers and Wi-Fi, helping older students or fresh graduates apply for college or university, walking students through how to get a driver’s licence or applying for rewarding jobs in a field they enjoy. 

“I feel like we don’t dream big enough around here,” said Killeen. “You know, if you ask the kids what they want to be when they grow up, they’re not saying the same things as … kids who go to Ashbury College. There’s a drop off, and there’s no reason for it. Just because we maybe don’t have as much financially doesn’t mean you can’t have more, [that] you can’t be something more.”

And while Killeen has only been in the councillor seat since October, it hasn’t taken her long to become a part of the fabric up the line – although she said she’s always been a part of the community, even before she moved from Chelsea a year ago. 

The mother of five has children aged nine to 28 and many of them attended St. Mike’s while she was a Chelsea resident. As such, she’s been volunteering at the Low arena, the Be and Become Youth Centre, the Gatineau Valley Retirement Village and, lately, flooding the ice in sub-zero temperatures at the Kazabazua Community Centre so kids will have a place to skate. 

“I’m in that area of my life where I believe that I need to focus on doing what I love and giving myself the opportunity to work in the areas that I volunteer in, rather than work full time and do hours of volunteering,” she said. Since taking office in October, Killeen has become the chair of several committees, and is the social agent for the Table de Development for the MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, where she works on mental health, youth and seniors. 

As for politics, she said she’s still getting to know her way around various municipal files, but one thing she said she wants to improve on are ambulance response times in the La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau region. 

While she didn’t have official stats and was clear that she was basing her research on anecdotal evidence, she said most people have reported waiting an average of 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at an emergency. 

Hockey fans in Low can verify that it took an ambulance close to an hour to show up to an emergency, which occurred during a Paugan Falls Rapids game last year, involving an opposing player, who got slammed into the boards and broke his neck. Killeen said she’s aware of the challenges rural municipalities face with limited health resources, and while she hopes to improve response times, she knows it won’t happen overnight.