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

Ontario to extend $200 payment to families of high schoolers

Ontario will offer a one-off payment of $200 to the parents of high school students, whom the province has ordered to stay home for an extended winter break, the provincial government said on Tuesday.

Morgan Sharp

December 23rd 2020

Advocates turn to courts to stop evictions amid growing distrust of Ontario tenancy tribunal

Across the province, a growing distrust in the LTB’s processes means legal clinic lawyers are increasingly turning to the courts to handle urgent eviction matters amid a second wave of COVID-19 infections, according to multiple lawyers who spoke to Canada's National Observer.

Morgan Sharp

December 11th 2020

Jobs remain elusive for young women amid COVID-19 second wave

The slow return of work for Canadians amid COVID-19 is most acutely felt by young women, jobs data published on Friday showed. Nine months in, they remain the furthest from pre-pandemic employment of all age and gender demographics the federal statistics agency collects.

Morgan Sharp

December 7th 2020

Tenant advocates map Toronto eviction blitz, urge solidarity

A map of Toronto compiled by tenant advocacy group Keep Your Rent shows a fraction of the eviction hearings being rushed through in online proceedings at Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board. The group hopes to unite renters in order to resist evictions.

Morgan Sharp

December 4th 2020

Canada’s $100B recovery spending leaves student loan holders out in the cold

Canada’s federal government unveiled its COVID-19 recovery plan earlier this week, promising up to $100 billion in public funds to help society and the economy recover, but ignoring calls to revive a pause on student loan repayments.

Morgan Sharp

December 3rd 2020

Bleed the North fights period poverty, stigma by pushing for greater access to menstrual products

High school senior Mia Medic and first-year university student Isabela Rittinger bonded this year over a shared passion for menstrual justice, building a project that culminated in Canada’s first independent National Period Day last month.

Morgan Sharp

December 1st 2020

Is Ontario's back-to-school strategy working, or are COVID-19 cases going untraced?

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has boasted in recent weeks that the Progressive Conservatives’ back-to-school strategy is working, but epidemiological studies and experts suggest it’s difficult to make that claim without more testing.

Coronavirus in Canada

Morgan Sharp

November 30th 2020

Youth taking climate action into their own hands at Mock COP26

The online alternative to the postponed global climate summit is demanding more action from world leaders on the climate crisis. More than 300 young delegates from 150 countries will take two weeks to wrangle a global treaty that countries could then adopt.

Morgan Sharp

November 23rd 2020

How Brampton youth are helping city council design the space they need

The younger city council Brampton elected in 2018 has tried to build back trust with young people while targeting the root causes of their troubles, which can include involvement with guns and gangs.

Morgan Sharp

November 20th 2020

Ontario tenants rushed through online evictions, advocates say

Tenant rights advocates say rules Ontario’s Ford government pushed through earlier in the pandemic and harried bureaucrats looking to clear a backlog have created a disturbing trend denying tenants access to justice in virtual eviction hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Board.

Morgan Sharp

November 19th 2020

Ontario education minister hints at extending winter break

Ontario’s education minister won’t say whether kids will get an extended winter break this year, but the Ford government is considering it to protect the classrooms Stephen Lecce says are the safest in the country.

Morgan Sharp

November 17th 2020

Global tourism conglomerate faces climate change head-on in new sustainable travel strategy

The travel industry was sideswiped by COVID-19, and one young Toronto-based sustainability expert sees that as an opportunity to make it greener. But airline emission cuts will have to be part of the rebuild, environmentalists say.

Morgan Sharp

November 17th 2020

Campus Corps enlists university students in divestment, renewables push

The Climate Reality Project founded by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore is turning its attention to Canadian universities with the expansion of its Campus Corps program.

Morgan Sharp

November 16th 2020

Young activists win right to sue Ontario’s Ford government over climate policy

The decision sets up a legal reckoning over whether governments must actively avoid conduct that can be expected to result in future harm, in this case the section 7 constitutional right to life, liberty and security of the person.

Morgan Sharp

November 13th 2020

Queer youth, elders foster intergenerational conversation amid COVID-19

Tyler Sloane, the youth facilitator of Buddies in Bad Times theatre’s In Conversation series, says growing up in a small town in the Prairies makes the pandemic feel oddly familiar, as they co-host an online version of the effort to connect queer youth and elders.

Morgan Sharp

November 13th 2020