October 03, 2013 (Toronto, ON) – The inaugural Ontario Youth Bike Summit, hosted by the Share the Road Cycling Coalition (The Coalition) – Ontario’s cycling policy, research and advocacy organization– is scheduled for Monday, October 7 in Toronto at the North York Civic Centre.
WHAT: Approximately 50 to 75 students from across the province are travelling to Toronto to discuss issues such as active and safe routes to school, cycling education, the need for great infrastructure investments and the recently released Ontario Cycling Strategy #CycleON. They will also tour Queen’s Park, learn how to be effective spokespeople/advocates and present their agenda for a Bicycle Friendly Ontario to provincial politicians.
Key times of interest for media include:
Monday, October 7
North York Memorial Hall, Concourse Level, 5110 Yonge St., Toronto
11 a.m. – Interactive session on How to be an Effective Advocate
– Students will be given scenarios and roles that require them to act as either an MPP or an advocate. In groups of four they will hold mock meetings to try to put a specific issue on the government agenda. After 15 minutes the students will switch roles and be given an opportunity to feel what it’s like to be on the other side of the table. This activity will also give students the opportunity to prepare to interact with Minister Murray at lunch and other MPP’s later in the day.
12:30 p.m. – The Honourable Glen Murray, Minister of Transportation and Minister of Infrastructure.
– Minister Murray will engage Ontario’s youth on cycling in the province, share with them his vision to make the province the most cycle friendly jurisdiction in Canada and listen to what issues young people want to see included in the cycling agenda.
5:20 p.m. Summit co-chairs to present the youth vision for cycling at MPP reception at the MacDonald Block, Queen’s Park
St. Lawrence Lounge, 1st Floor, MacDonald Block, 900 Bay St., Toronto
– Participating youth will meet with Provincial MPPs at a pizza party reception.
– The youth will unveil their agenda calling on the Province to make their communities more bicycle-friendly and safe.
– Ontario’s All-Party MPP Bike Caucus, MPPs Mike Colle (Eglinton Lawrence), Catherine Fife (Kitchener-Waterloo) and Norm Miller (Parry Sound-Muskoka) will deliver remarks to youth participants.
About the Share the Road Cycling Coalition
The Share the Road Cycling Coalition is a provincial cycling advocacy and policy organization launched in 2008 unite partners, stakeholders, cycling enthusiasts and stakeholders from across Ontario, to work with and on behalf of municipalities to enhance their ability to make their communities more bicycle- friendly and advocate for an enhanced provincial role. Core to the organization’s mission and mandate are safety, education and awareness campaigns. The Coalition has worked since 2008 on making the case for a new Cycling Policy for Ontario and on August 30th launched that new policy, the Ontario Cycling Strategy with Transportation Minister Glen Murray.
Since its inception, the Coalition has focused on outreach work across Ontario and has built partnerships with active transportation stakeholders notably: cycling advocates, local cycling clubs, municipal advisory groups, municipal and provincial leaders and officials, law enforcement, planners, public health professionals, and funders.