Next Gen Insider

Morgan Sharp reports from Toronto on the city's young population and their civic engagement and impact on the local institutions that make democracy function.

Canada's National Observer is a proud participant of the Local Journalism Initiative, which supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.

531 Articles

What it's like to menstruate while trans or incarcerated

Bleed the North shares stories of incarcerated and trans menstruators and explains the sacred nature of "moon time" in Indigenous culture as its young leaders reach for menstrual justice.

Morgan Sharp

June 1st 2021

Tackling anti-Black racism shouldn't just be a student's job

Efforts to address anti-Black racism in schools must involve shifting the curriculum and the approaches of teachers and other staff, advocates say, and principals and administrators should be encouraging the move as a response to a crisis.

Morgan Sharp

May 31st 2021

Doug Ford just asked everyone for advice about schools

The premier of Ontario, where schools have been closed since early to mid April, laid out the facts he is considering on whether to reopen them in June or wait until September and asked for our advice.

Morgan Sharp

May 27th 2021

Demi Lovato provides younger non-binary folk symbolic boost

Pop singer Demi Lovato came out as non-binary last week, providing a dose of visibility and affirmation for younger folks working out their own gender identity, LGBTQ+ advocates say.

Morgan Sharp

May 26th 2021

Work-to-rule coming for Toronto Catholic elementary schools

Life is already tough for Toronto’s elementary students, who have been learning virtually since the city’s schools closed in early April. It may get even tougher for those in the Catholic system, where teachers will work-to-rule starting on Tuesday.

Morgan Sharp

May 25th 2021

Toronto Jewish school sues province, city over lockdown

An orthodox Jewish religious school in north Toronto has filed a legal challenge against the provincial government’s COVID-19 lockdown measures and city additions, arguing they fail to account for its unique needs and obligations.

Coronavirus in Canada

Morgan Sharp

May 20th 2021

Some Daughters of the Vote want to fight anti-Asian racism

A group of young Asian Canadian women, seeing few role models who looked like them in politics or academia, met online at this year’s virtual Daughter of the Vote event and have since joined forces to raise their voices.

Morgan Sharp

May 19th 2021

Class of 2021 prepares for a new chapter as COVID drags on

The Class of 2021 has had an almost completely virtual last two years of high school, and they’re exhausted.

Morgan Sharp

May 18th 2021

Waterloo opens up COVID vaccination bookings to 12 and older

Waterloo started taking COVID-19 vaccine bookings for children as young as 12 on Tuesday as Ontario’s provincial government shifts focus from big-city hot-spot neighbourhoods where adolescents who are not also essential workers have been left out until at least July.

Morgan Sharp

May 12th 2021

Pride flag fights put Catholic school funding in focus

Catholic school boards across Ontario are wrestling with the question of whether and how to celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ pride within a religion that still sees gay people as suffering their identity, making some critics again question their public funding.

Morgan Sharp

May 11th 2021

From a tower of trash bags to virtual motivation

Sam Demma was going to be a soccer star, until serious injuries ended that dream. He has since gone from creating a trash cleanup movement in Pickering to giving virtual motivational keynotes and running workshops on how to create positive change.

Morgan Sharp

May 10th 2021

Young workers hit by off-again job market in April

Young Canadian workers lost jobs in double the numbers of the core 25 to 54 age group in April, employment data shows, as third-wave restrictions in Ontario and British Columbia turned back expansion in retail and hospitality work from earlier in the year.

Morgan Sharp

May 7th 2021

A teen’s journey from Syria to role model

Valentina Shamoun found community at the local Boys and Girls Club (recently renamed BGC Canada) soon after leaving Syria at the start of that country’s civil war and has been involved ever since. Last month, she was named the Canadian chapter’s youth of the year.

Morgan Sharp

May 7th 2021

A look at the unhealthy toll COVID-19 has taken on mothers

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the mothers of young children especially hard, research conducted for the Mental Health Commission of Canada shows, as they often seek to balance paid and unpaid work from home.

Coronavirus in Canada

Morgan Sharp

May 6th 2021

Ontario school boards must offer virtual classes in 2021-22

Ontario’s Education Ministry outlined its financial and operational plans for the 2021-22 school year on Tuesday, telling school boards that pandemic-related funding for the second half of the year is not yet confirmed while requiring them to offer virtual classes for the whole year.

Morgan Sharp

May 4th 2021