KEI Network - Issue #218 - Canada's Youth-led Resurgence

Canada's Youth-led Resurgence

DIRECTORY

Contributions:

A Conversation About Engaging Youth

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Fact or Fiction?

Today's Youth Are Normal

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Editor - Perry Kinkaide

There will be no KEI newsletters or webinars for the next two weeks as I take a short, whirlwind journey to visit friends and family across North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Maine, and New York. It’s a moment to reconnect—and to gain perspective before we re-engage with fresh focus, commencing the KEI Networks summer series "Youth At the Crossroads".

Newsletter articles in the series starting June 15th will explore the impact of the various forces and sources of change on our youth since our 2019 white paper HERE.

Each of the associated Thursday webinars commencing June 19th will feature an introduction and discussion with the KEI Network's newly formed and diverse Youth Advisory panel about the impact of various issues - their concerns and aspirations.

If our youth are still willing to hope, to lead, and to fight for a better future, the least we can do is show up, listen, and learn. Let’s keep the conversation going. Let’s make this summer a turning point.

- Editor

Canada's Youth-led Resurgence - A Shared Surge of Greatness

As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change, economic uncertainty, and social unrest, Canada stands at a critical juncture. However, rather than succumbing to alarm and resignation, the country's youth are poised to drive a resurgence of greatness. This renewal will not happen in isolation but will be intertwined with the fortunes of Canada's closest partner, the United States, and the energy of the next generation on both sides of the 49th parallel.

Five Intertwined Catalysts for Transformation

There are five key areas where North Americia's youth can collaborate to transform parallel challenges into a common springboard for prosperity:

Complementary Resources for a Climate-Anxious World: Canada's vast reserves of clean hydro, critical minerals, and sustainable agriculture can be paired with U.S. refining capacity, advanced manufacturing, and capital markets to create a continent-wide value chain. Youth-led start-ups are already prototyping low-carbon technologies that will turn these assets into jobs.
A New Civic Federalism—From Provinces and States: By demanding synchronized environmental baselines and streamlined approvals, young activists and policy entrepreneurs can slash red tape that strangles cross-border projects and stalls climate progress.
One Market, Two Flags, 400 Million Consumers: A joint youth-driven campaign to tear down domestic barriers and modernize NAFTA's successor, CUSMA, would give start-ups from Halifax to Houston a seamless launchpad larger than the EU.
Fiscal Credibility as a Continental Asset: Canada's promise of balancing the books, paired with a long-overdue U.S. debate on sustainable spending, would restore global investor confidence in the world's largest trading bloc and keep capital affordable for the next generation's ventures.
People Power: Diversity Meets Scale: With nearly a quarter of Canadians and 15 percent of Americans born abroad, North America gains a talent engine no rival can easily replicate. Youth exchanges, bi-national hackathons, and cross-border venture funds are turning cultural diversity into commercial advantage.

- Continued below

The KEI Network's NEXT WEBINAR is June 19th introducing the KEI Network's Youth Advisory and the summer series "Youth At the Crossroads"

No need to register. Just Zoom in

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84258596166?pw..

- Continued from above.

A Call to the Continent's Rising Generation. To harness these catalysts, the continent's rising generation is urged to:

Connect: Join cross-border youth networks in tech, climate action, and civic leadership.
Create: Prototype ventures that rely on—and strengthen—continental supply chains.
Challenge: Hold Ottawa, Washington, provinces, and states accountable for rules that block collaboration.
Champion: Tell the story that entrepreneurship and sustainability are North American team sports.

Reflections and Re-engagement: Youth, Disruption, and a Nation at the Crossroads. As the KEI Network pauses to reflect and refocus, we shift our lens to those most impacted by current trends: Canada's youth. Since 2019, we've collaborated with over 5,000 young Albertans, who called for action on meaningful education, future-ready work, sustainable communities, and mental health. Today, youth are not passive witnesses but active participants in shaping their future.

Join the Conversation. To explore the lived experiences, frustrations, and aspirations of Canada's next generation, the KEI Network is launching a new summer series: "Just a Chat: Youth at the Crossroads." The first session, on June 19th, features a discussion about the impact of COVID-19, mandates, and youth recovery. Join us for an honest dialogue about how a once-in-a-century pandemic altered young lives and how youth are leading measures for recovery.

The brink, then, is less a cliff than an invitation—issued to the youngest Canadians and Americans alike—to build a resilient, innovative, and shared future. If they answer, the surge of greatness will carry two flags but one rising generation.

Editor@KEInetwork.net