PM announces funding for Pathways to Education

Thank you Minister Diane Finley for that introduction, and also for the work that you do as Minister of Human Resources, and in particular on the subjects that we are dealing with today.

Also, thank you Senator Don Meredith – it is a delight to have a member in our caucus who understands these programs and understands the communities in which they operate.

I also extend my greetings to my colleagues, Dean Allison and Terence Young, as well everyone here from Pathways.

It is a pleasure to be here with you all here today.

I came to Toronto today to make an important announcement about a program that started nearby, in Regent Park, and is now taking off in more and more communities around the country.

In 1949, when it was first built, the public housing at Regent Park was seen as an avant garde model of social engineering. What it demonstrated however, was that government can’t engineer people, and I would add, that it shouldn’t try.

For a variety of reasons, what began with such promise and anticipation ended up for much of the 20th century as a troubled neighbourhood.

Perversely, it became a tragic example of how government - no matter how well-intentioned - can sometimes make life difficult for the very people it is trying to help.

As usual, it is young people who bear the brunt. As social conditions got worse, gangs moved into the area. Then, on top of every other disadvantage
they faced, young people could find drugs on any corner.

Hope, sadly, was not so easy to find. More than half of the area’s high school students were dropping out. Youth especially lacked successful role models.  What was needed was help to break the cycle of poverty, to give young people a way out and a way up.

Now I would just observe that when Government creates a problem it is seldom government that provides the solution. That work usually falls to committed volunteers and such has been the case, here, at Regent Park.

In 2001, the Regent Community Health Centre launched Pathways to Education, a new and innovative program that would soon turn around countless lives.

That was a vital first step in the rejuvenation of Regent Park, a step that our government has supported through Canada’s Economic Action Plan. We are replacing the Lord Dufferin Indoor Pool, fixing-up the Regent Park North Recreation Centre, rehabilitating the Cabbagetown Youth Centre and improving the Moss Park Playground.

This is, of course, in addition to supporting the construction of new, modern affordable housing, which is improving the neighbourhood.

However, in an underprivileged neighbourhood, a university or college campus can appear to be a long way off, even when the actual buildings are only a few blocks away. Pathways to Education set out to help students on that journey, first by lowering the high school drop out rate. Then, as the program grew, it began providing support, to help them take the next step onto that post-secondary campus.

The program offers practical help with tutoring, mentoring and even financial aid. For example, it’s hard for many people to imagine, but some young people were missing classes just for lack of bus fare. 

Pathways addressed that problem head on with free bus tickets – tied to classroom attendance, of course.  Tutoring and mentoring helped students to tackle challenges, both in the classroom and in life outside.

For many New Canadians, simply having a place to do their homework, with a little help from a volunteer with strong English language skills, makes a big difference. And bursaries for post-secondary education are helping more young people to prepare for the careers of their dreams.

Pathways is getting results. This program succeeds, where others have failed, because it isn’t delivered from the top down. Instead, it engages the community. It was created by individuals with a vision.  Instead of building a bureaucracy, it has been sustained by volunteers.

By tying financial aid to classroom attendance, the program teaches personal accountability. Absenteeism has been cut in half.

In Regent Park, the dropout rate has gone down from one-in-two to one-in-ten. That’s not a statistic - that’s a success story. That’s many personal success stories.

Many of the program’s graduates have now been through university and are giving back to the community. They are living proof that the program works. In fact, more than 700 students have completed the program.

These are students like Kadijo Afrah and Humayun Khan. Humayun recently graduated from the Ted Rogers School of Business at Ryerson.

He has also completed an internship at Ernst & Young. In addition, he gives back to the Community through involvement in a wide range of groups including the Art of Living Foundation, Lead-2-Peace, and Students in Free Enterprise.

Kadijo came to Canada from war-torn Mogadishu. Pathways gave her the support she needed in school and fostered her love of Shakespeare.

Now, she is in her fourth year at the University of Toronto, doing a double major in neuro-science and health studies. I’m amazed that, she still finds time to do some drama on the side.

Our government believes in Pathways to Education and its innovative approach of using volunteers as mentors and role models.

Today, I am proud to announce that our government is providing new funding to help Pathways to Education reach more students.

The funds are strengthening the program at longstanding locations and facilitating its expansion to a total of 11 communities, including new programs in Winnipeg, Kingston and Halifax for the current school year.

Pathways to Education is a great example of how individual initiatives and grassroots volunteerism can empower young people.

Today, I visited a Pathways classroom. I had heard so much about the program, and its success in raising graduation rates, that I wanted to see it in person.

I’m very glad I did, and I’m very glad that had an opportunity to meet so many of these young people who are going to do so much for our country and our communities in the future.

Thank you.

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