Meeting with the Senators

09/20/2010

On June 2, 2010, the C.A.S.T. Team as well as a small part of YouthCan were given the
opportunity to meet with two federal senators to discuss issues pertaining to several youth in
care...
The two main issues that we as the team advocated for was:
1. The age of protection
2. Raising the ECM.

The C.A.S.T. Team met up at the front doors to the West Block of Parliament. These
buildings are not usually open to the public eye; however we were lucky enough to
experience the grand tour. We passed by many historical markers, such as the very couch
where Sir John A. Macdonald was stuck sitting on for approximately 6 months, the meeting
room for the Privy Council, and some of the other preserved offices of those whom were
powerful in the government way back in the day. After the tour of the West Block, we
entered the general touring area where there was this giant atrium, and continued to the Senate, also commonly known as "The House of Sober Second Thought". After the grand tour, we all
sat down this really long table. Everybody was nervous, because we were about to address
concerns with two Federal Senators, L'Honorable Lucie Pépin and the Honourable Jim
Munson. We started off with our first key points, and let the youth tell some of their
stories to enforce our points. The Senators were very open-minded and also very
empathetic, and as a result the Senators said they would call some people to make a new
document soon, a Private Bill, to raise the Age of Protection from 16 to 18.
The second major issue was that of our ECM (Extended Care and Maintainance). The ECM
was just recently raised in Ottawa from $850.00/month to $1050.00/month. This is a
fantastic event seeing as CAS has been trying to get raised for quite awhile. Now youth in
Ottawa ages 18-21 have that little extra something to keep them going. The Senators Pépin
and Munson said that they would assist in lobbying the Provincial Government to raise the
ECM, but a proposal had to be made. The C.A.S.T. Team enjoyed a late snack after the
meeting, and then got sent home. We got a lot accomplished as a team, because realistically,
the Age of Protection hasn't been brought to the attention of the government quite like this
since 1995. We are very proud of you Team!!

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