The Ottawa Youth Commission offers so much to engage youth in the Ottawa community, including conferences, workshops, and focus groups. But have you ever wondered who’s behind the scenes making it all happen? Meet the co-chairs of the youth commission, Pegah Akbari and Anna Liang!

Both of these young women have been involved with the youth commission for several years as volunteers. Akbari, 18, is currently studying kinesiology at the University of Ottawa, and Liang, 17, is in her final year at Lisgar Collegiate Institute.

As co-chairs, both ladies say that while they do administrative tasks, their main role is advancing the CJOYC mission of giving youth in Ottawa a voice in municipal government. In their roles they are also very involved in creating and planning CJOYC events. In fact, both say that the recent #YouOttaKnow conference is a standout memory in their run as co-chair so far.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of the planning and organizing of the event and of course being able to be an MC for the event was a great experience,” Akbari says.

Liang says, “The event led to the establishment of many new relationships, and I proudly saw strangers become friends.” She adds that the conference taught her how to plan an event effectively and gave her an opportunity to conquer her fear of public speaking.

To make the day even more exciting, Akbari and Liang were interviewd on CBC’s “All in a Day” radio show in response to the conference!

But for these women, it’s not simply about the limelight, or one specific event – it’s about connecting with youth around Ottawa.

“To tell the truth,” says Akbari, “the thing that tops all of this is when we have students from our conference come and ask us how they can become involved with the Ottawa Youth Commission. It’s then that you know you’ve done something right and you’ve reached out to someone!”

Akbari and Liang hope that through the youth commission, they can reach out to their peers and get them involved in the city, whether that be through volunteering with the youth commission, or coming out to the events and learning more about local affairs and public policy.

Both Akbari and Liang intend to stay involved in the youth commission as long as they can, and they encourage all Ottawa youth to get involved. Liang says that her involvement in the youth commission helped her “grow both as a person and as a citizen,” and Akbari notes that not only has she met wonderful people as a result of her involvement, but she’s also become involved in events she would have otherwise never heard of, such as the Annual National Child’s Day celebrations on Parliament Hill.

And if the success of the Ottawa Youth Commission this year is any indication, the commission itself has certainly benefitted from these fantastic co-chairs!

A big thank you to Erin for writing this article and showcasing our members!

The workshops were all fantastic and offered youth the chance to engage in these important issues – thank you to all of our facilitators – City of Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa Light Rail Transit, OC Transit, Green Communities Canada, and City of Ottawa Transportation Planning Branch.

One of the workshops, presented by Green Communities Canada, was all about the way that we travel and how we can make it more accessible to students. The facilitators of it played a great video called “Who Needs a Motor?” which focused on all the ways that we can transport ourselves. Certainly made me want to get out there and walk, run and bike!

OC Transpo officials facilitated another workshop. There, students were given a chance to talk about both things they liked as well as places they see room for improvement. One pair of girls were very interested in one of the services they learned about, which is that you can rent a bus for a party! Students were also able to write down on a piece of paper all their suggestions to make OC Transpo better. One popular suggestion was to have the customer relations number posted on all buses, so if you have a problem with a bus or a bus driver, you can talk to someone about it right away before forgetting.

Some of our members from the Ottawa Commission presented our Civic Participation Toolkit. The toolkit gives students all the necessary tips to have their voices heard in our city. In the workshop students formed groups and wrote mock letters to Ottawa City Councillors about real issues they see in our community. some issues that came up were bus fares, environmentally friendly transportation initiatives, and the number of parks in Ottawa. The best thing about this workshop is that Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa (CAYFO) collected the letters to add to a pile of pre-existing youth letters to present to the city.

Lunchtime was a highlight of the day – and not just because of those rice krispie squares (though they were really good…). The social media station was bussing with activity, as students tweeted using the #YouOttaKnow hashtag and tagged @CAYFO. They were also checking out the CAYFO Facebook page (along with their own profiles, of course!). And a computer was even set up so students could make video blogs talking about their time at the conference! These videos are a great souvenir of the conference…proof of the good time everyone had!

A special surprise to everyone was when Mayor Jim Watson made his way around the room, chatting and posing in photos with students. Mayor Watson talked to each of the tables of students, really demonstrating his commitment to youth issues in our city. Throughout the day we were also visited by City Councillors Diane Deans, Marianne Wilkinson, Katherine Hobbs, Keith Egli and Mathieu Fleury. We would like to thank each of them for their support!

Mayor Jim Watson and youth at #YouOttaKnow

The conference was a huge success, and everyone walked away with a greater understanding and knowledge of transportation in Ottawa and municipal politics – and some new friends as well! The Ottawa Youth Commission is now working on a report with the information gathered throughout the day to present to City Council, Mayor Jim Watson, and City of Ottawa departments to let them know what youth think about transportation in our city and to ensure our voices are heard on issues important to us!

Thank you to all of the volunteers, students, educators, City staff members, and workshop facilitators for your help with #YouOttaKnow!!!

People always complain about the bus-it’s late or slow, it’s overcrowded, the person beside you smells-but really, thank God for the bus! For about three bucks (give or take), you can get virtually everywhere in the city! That sounds a lot better than spending $30 on a cab, freezing in the cold or begging the ‘rents for a ride.

Despite people’s grumblings, OC Transpo is actually one fo the best city public transportation systems in Canada, with a light-rail train and a special route just for buses so they don’t get too caught up in rush-hour traffic. Not to mention there’s that quick and easy “trip planner” online that tells you exactly what to do in order to get to where you need to be. This is the stuff people should be talking about.

Lately, OC Transpo has been making headlines in the news for other reasons – and not the greatest ones. First, there was that whole issue about the bus driver cursing at a kid on the bus. Then, the “singing bus driver” – a driver who used to croon to his captive audience during his shifts, who was told to shut up and drive – literally. And now, there are rumours of bus drivers being unhappy and maybe going on strike (although the higher-ups deny this).

So, in this current state of strife between management and bus drivers, I can’t help but fear what would happen to this city if bus drivers actually did go on strike. Sure, Rideau Street right in front of the mall would be more cleared out, but really, without OC Transpo, the city would practically fall apart.

In fact, that pretty much happened back in December 2008 when drivers, dispatchers and maintenance workers went on strike. For 51 long and cold days (right in the middle of winter!), Ottawa citizens were left stranded in the city.

Commuters didn’t know what to do. Traffic became an absolute mess. People couldn’t get to work or appointments. Students couldn’t get to their exams.

What a nightmare.

I wasn’t living in Ottawa at that time – and I can’t lie, I’m pretty relieved…because I don’t really know what I would do without the bus.

So how does the bus affect your life? And what would you do without it? Comment below and tell us what you think. Want more? Come out to #YouOttaKnow next Tuesday (November 29) at City Hall to learn more about your city’s transportation system. Let’s get the conversation started!

Registration is now open!

Real-time bus schedules on your cell phone! OC Transpo recently released the technology which will allow you to text a number to find out when the bus you are anxiously waiting for will come. This provides the user with a more accurate prediction of when the bus will arrive then the old practice of calling 560-1000 because this new technology will use the GPS information taken from the bus. So next time you’re waiting for the bus, wondering when it’s going to show try this:

1. Text 560560 the 4 digits of your bus stop number OR the first few letters of the Transitway Station (HURD, MAC, BILL for example), if there are a more than 1 route at your stop you’ll have to follow the prompts in the reply you get. If it’s the first time you’re using the service you will also have to select which language you prefer.  You’ll get a reply to your text with the next 3 arrival times of the bus. We tried this while waiting for the number 111 Baseline this morning and it was really easy to use and gave us accurate arrival times!

Would you use this service? What other ways do you plan your bus travel?

There are so many ways to get from A to B. Now that it’s fall in Ottawa we are getting in the last few bike rides down the canal but find ourselves putting the bikes away on the weekends to slow down and enjoy the pretty colours! How do you guys travel? Do you prefer to walk, use public transportation, rollerblade, drive? Let us know!

We love this video made by STA Travel (no affiliations, we just enjoy it) on the joys of walking. Be warned, watching this video will give you the travel bug!

Make sure to register for #YouOttaKnow, our Youth and Transportation Conference!

Hello friends! It has been awhile since we’ve done a post and that is because we have been extremely busy with some great projects, don’t worry, we had our summer fun too!

After a very successful summer we’re back and promise to be better at updating you on the information in Ottawa that you need to know. To kick off our return, we’re taking a cue from our friends over at FYBY News and giving you 10 reasons that we love to volunteer in Ottawa.

1. Because there is usually free food at meetings

2. To get valuable life experience

3. To have fun!

4. To make a difference in your community

5. To make friends

6. Because it makes your heart feel good

7. Because Ottawa is your city and you should have a voice in what happens here

8. To gain leadership skills

9. Make your friends and family proud

10. Because Mayor Jim Watson may tweet at you!

There are hundreds of reasons and benefits to volunteering. What are some of your reasons for volunteering?

If you would like to volunteer with us or with Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa, let us know!

We want to especially thank Mayor Jim Watson, Councillor Eli El-Chantiry, Councillor Marianne Wilkinson for taking the time to come and speak to our youth members!

They’re not answering to calls in the sky, wearing capes or hiding in caves -they want you to know who they are and what they do! Our City government, the elected City Councillors and Mayor, aren’t operating from a top secret cave miles underground Ottawa – they are working in our parks, our schools, our neighbourhoods, even on Facebook and Twitter, each and every day to make our City better!

Each area of Ottawa elects a City Councillor to represent them at City Council. They meet the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at City Hall (aka 110 Laurier Ave West) and you, yes YOU!, are invited to attend these meetings. At these meetings you’ll have a chance to hear about many issues happening in Ottawa, like policing, water, environment, transit and parks and recreation. Councilors are also on Standing Committees, which allow them to become experts on issues before they are discussed in Council meetings. It is at these Standing Committees that residents are invited to voice their opinions in a 5 minute presentation. It’s not only the elected officials that are making the decisions that impact our community, Council is advised by Advisory Committees which are comprised of Ottawa residents who have volunteered for these positions.

To find out what ward you are in, and who you’re Councillor is, use this handy tool provided by the City of Ottawa.

Okay, so they may not be masked or wear capes but they do fight to make our city safer and fun…

It is the 48-hour film festival hosted by FYBY (For Youth By Youth), a program of Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa. The film festival is an event where teams of 2-5 students are to shoot, edit and produce a short film in 48 hours! A theme is provided as guideline, but CREATIVITY is the key. The film fest ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 16^th 2011, at the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa. Awards will be presented to categorical winners and presentation of certain video shall be displayed.

Stay tuned to http://fybynews.com/ for updates on the Film Fest and other FYBY events!