Quebec action plan for youth has a green tinge

MONTREAL — Quebec has unveiled its $300-million action plan for youth that includes funding for environmental initiatives, job training and protection of the French language.

Premier François Legault says the plan’s 130 measures include support for entrepreneurs, job training and mental health, as well as a citizenship section that includes a plan to counter cyber-violence.

He told a news conference Sunday that the government also decided to add a section on the environment, which is a top priority for youth, as well as a culture aspect that includes campaigns to promote the use of French among youth.

Legault says many elements of the plan are aimed at helping youth adapt to a changing job market that is increasingly reliant on technology and innovation.

On the environment front, he says schools will partner with the provincial parks agency to get students outside in nature, and will be able to propose their own environmental projects such as gardens or green roofs.

The plan is aimed at youth between the ages of 15 and 29, which Legault described as one of the demographics most affected by the pandemic.

But he acknowledged that many people were struggling to access mental-health services and there was no quick solution to the problem.

“Right now, we lack resources,” Legault told a news conference in Montreal. “We don’t lack money, the money is there, the jobs are posted, but the challenge is finding people who are ready to work,” he said, noting that psychologists and psychiatrists can’t be trained “from one day to another.”

The plan was developed in consultation with the province’s youth, and some 500,000 young people will be helped by the measures it proposed.