Winnipeg chamber looks to students for ideas on the future

By Wendy Stephenson

A word of warning - don’t get Dave Angus going.

The president and CEO of The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce is passionate about Winnipeg and even more so about the next generation.

“We’ve got to stop being satisfied with mediocrity and strive to be No. 1,” Angus said prior to LeaderCon 08, a day-long conference that attracted more than 200 high school students, teachers and business people and set the stage for a new era of communication between business and the workforce of tomorrow.

“We need to grow to one-million people, we need to be attracting head offices and leaders in the knowledge-based economy and we need to be a community where youth can pursue their dreams,” Angus says.

But many of our young people are leaving, creating a crisis in the workforce.

In 2006, the Manitoba Business Leaders Index, an annual survey of 200 CEOs, presidents and business owners, provided a wake-up call – only one in 10 business executives believed Manitoba is doing a good job of ensuring that young people have good opportunities to live and work here.

For The Chamber, it was a call-to-action.

It approached the Pembina Trails School Division to see if there was interest in creating a Student Council, which would allow students to speak out on their own behalf about such issues as career awareness and the type of city they find attractive.

“I am so impressed with the next generation. We are in great hands. That’s why it’s so important they have a seat at the table,” Angus says.

Barb Paul, vice-principal of Vincent Massey Collegiate and staff liaison for the Student Council, says Pembina Trails jumped at the opportunity to partner with The Chamber.

“High schools are really making an effort to establish a greater student voice,” Paul says.

“We recognize that, as adults, we rely on our past experiences. We need to hear what the kids are saying and what their dreams are. This was an opportunity that our four high schools couldn’t pass up.”

The Student Council was created six months ago. It was decided to start small with four students from each of the high schools – Vincent Massey, Shaftesbury, Oak Park and Fort Richmond Collegiate.

The students met regularly to discuss everything from career mentorship and job shadowing to creating a website that would appeal to young people in getting across a message about the types of careers available and how to prepare for those careers.

“Guidance counsellors only have so much time,” says Gladys Yeung, who represents Vincent Massey on the Student Council and helped organize LeaderCon 08, which saw students and staff from 23 schools spend an entire day looking at these issues.

Paul agrees it’s difficult for teachers to keep on top of what careers exist in Winnipeg. That’s more up the chamber’s alley.

“I’m almost 55, and my world – my awareness of job and career opportunities – is shaped by what I knew when I was younger. When you think about the world today … there are so many jobs that in my life I would never have heard of.

“These kids, their eyes are wide open. Our eyes aren’t quite as wide open. It’s a different generation.”

Ryan Molloy, a Grade 12 student at Vincent Massey and a Student Council rep, says the council has also talked a lot about the values held by his generation and how those values can be reflected in a Winnipeg of the future.

A few ideas they’ve tossed around include better public transportation and more open public spaces, Molloy says.

Paul says the students’ vision is a different vision – they’re environmentally conscious and we need to hear that.

“I love that they’re so willing to stand up and use their voices. That’s the joy of being a teacher. Now, our students have a forum. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce has offered that.”

In fact, the council is demanding to be heard and has asked The Chamber to arrange meetings with the premier and the mayor to present recommendations coming out of LeaderCon 08.

Angus says there’s a synergy that’s developing, and The Chamber hopes to expand the Student Council across the entire city.

The schools benefit by being able to provide students with more timely information about career opportunities… the students benefit by having mentors to lead the way … and businesses benefit by establishing ties with the workforce of the future.