25 | durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, May 19, 2022 | Downsize Space. Upgrade Style. Active Adult Independent Living in the Heart of Oshawa Five Star Amenities • Swimming pool • Spa • Games room • Movie theatre • Fitness room • Library • Onsite underground parking & lockers Rental Units Include • Private walkout balcony • Self controlled heat & air conditioned unit • Stainless steel appliances • Washer & dryer ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ) Call us at 905-429-2351 or 1-866-601-3083 & book your tour today!! ON NOW AT THE BRICK!ON NOW AT THE BRICK! SAVING YOU MORE For more details shop instore or online at thebrick.com Leading up to the June 2 provincial election, Metroland reached out to members of its Diversity and Inclusion Community Advisory Committee, inviting them to write about an important election issue. This column is part of this initiative. It's not easy being 22 in 2022. Over the last two years, young people have experienced the disproportionate impact of the economic, social and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a tale as old as time. During crises, communities experiencing marginalization such as young people face the brunt of the negative impacts. Take for example, mental health. A recent CAMH study found that over half of the young people surveyed felt depressed about the future because of COVID-19 and over one-third felt the pandemic severely impacted their mental well-being. Furthermore, a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) found that hospitalizations due to eating disorders for girls between the ages of 10 to 17 increased by nearly 60 per cent. It doesn't stop there. The economic fallout of COVID-19 has had unprecedented impacts on young people. During the pandemic, 24 per cent of young people were not in employment, education, and training (NEET), the highest rate in two decades. This doesn't bode well for the future as the 'economic scarring' of this time can have long-lasting effects. Given the situation, what do youth need? As I shared last year in the Preventing a Lockdown Generation in Canada report I co-authored; our country's recovery will be incomplete without addressing the needs of young people. And they are not sitting idly by. Youth have been organizing and vocal about what they need. Youth-led advocacy groups like Toronto Youth Cabinet, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and Young Ontarians United have been calling for a range of interventions to support youth prosperity, from investing in youth employment to establishing student mental health days to increasing OSAP to providing free menstrual products at all post-secondary institutions. There are also programs being delivered to support the health and well-being of diverse youth such as Plan International Canada's The Power Within and the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth at CAMH. For Ontario to prosper, young people need to succeed. This election represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to uplift young people in Ontario and unlock our collective prosperity. When you go to the ballot box in June - make youth prosperity and well- being a priority. Be sure to ask candidates vying for your vote about what they intend to do to push youth issues to the top of the public policy agenda. Because when young people have what they need to thrive, that benefits us all. Anjum Sultana is the Director of Youth Leadership and Policy Advocacy at Plan International Canada and is a Fellow with the Public Policy Forum. Sultana is also a member of Metroland's Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. UNLOCKING YOUTH PROSPERITY NEEDS TO BE AN ELECTION ISSUE OPINION THE PROSPERITY AND WELLBEING OF YOUTH IN ONTARIO NEEDS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE UPCOMING PROVINCIAL ELECTION, SAYS ANJUM SULTANA ANJUM SULTANA Column AREA: Ontario is Canada's fourth-largest province, with a total area of 1.076 million sq. km. KILOMETRES OF PROVINCIAL HIGHWAY: The Ministry of Transportation maintains more than 16,900 kilometres, from Ontario's widest, the 401, to Hwy. 26 through Simcoe County, and about 2,800 bridges. WATERWAYS: One-sixth of the province is covered in water -- 250,000 lakes and more than 100,000 km of rivers. HOSPITALS: There are 145 public hospital corporations with 224 sites. SCHOOLS: There are approximately 1.4 million students in 3,962 elementary schools, and approximately 630,000 students in 871 secondary schools. COLLEGES: There are 24 colleges offering a combined 900 programs. UNIVERSITIES: There are 22 universities, from the largest (University of Toronto, with 95,055 students at various campuses and schools), to the smallest (Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie with 2,000). MUNICIPALITIES: There are 414 single and lower-tier municipalities, and 30 up-per-tier (counties and regions). ELECTORAL DISTRICTS: There are 124 ridings up for grabs in the June 2 election. Find your riding here: elections.on.ca/en/voting-in-ontario/electoral-districts.html PROVINCIAL DEBT: $418.7 billion in publicly held debt, including the offsetting of $6.2 billion in Ontario bonds and treasury bills, plus $8.8 billion in nonpublic debt. SOME FAST FACTS ABOUT THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO PROVINCIAL ELECTION