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Lack of civic education directly impacts ability to make change in Downtown Eastside: advocates

Side by side headshots of Jennifer Wolowic and Cheyenne Stonechild
SFU democracy researcher Jennifer Wolowic (left) and advocate for youth in care, Cheyenne Stonechild (right), say the lack of civic education in Canadian society directly impacts Vancouverites' capacity to make change. Photos courtesy of Cheyenne Stonechild and Jennifer Wolowic.
Laurence Gatinel - CFRO - Vancouver • BC | 11-02-2021
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By Tan Mei Xi
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Without widespread civic education, Canadians are left to learn about the democratic process through trial and error and that's a barrier to change, says an advocate.

"Knowledge has not been shared about how to [advocate for change]... and it's creating a lot of tension in our community," youth advocate and former youth in care Cheyenne Stonechild told The PULSE on CFRO.

Stonechild said that an often-overlooked piece in advocacy is the knowledge that policy change is slow and can take years. Having schools teach students what effective advocacy looks like would empower more Canadians to take action on issues they care about and reduce the frustration the process can create, she said.

According to research from Simon Fraser University, 52 per cent of Canadians don't think that ordinary citizens have the ability to influence the government.

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