Brampton Community Rallies
in Support of Youth Forum

Brampton - Over 200 Brampton residents, teachers, youth, community organizations and elected officials united on March 26, 2009 to develop community based solutions on the issue of youth violence in Brampton.

In response to the growing incidents of drugs, guns, gangs, and violence amongst youth in Brampton, Dr. Ruby Dhalla, Member of Parliament for Brampton Springdale along with the Brampton-Springdale Youth Advisory Council (BSYAC) hosted a forum to address the on going issue of violence in Peel Region.

The Brampton-Springdale Youth Advisory Council (BSYAC) was created to empower youth to actively participate in designing and developing solutions for issues and challenges that confront them.

"With the increase in violence there is a need for the Brampton community to work together to ensure we have a bottom-up approach to address the issue of violence in our community" said Dr. Dhalla.

Of special importance to the youth forum were presentations from families who have lost their sons and daughters to violence including Caneth Masih who lost his son to gun violence in Brampton last year and Audette Shepherd who lost her son (brother of NBA star Jamal Magloire) to gun violence in 2001.

Youth also had the opportunity to provide valuable advice and suggestions to the parents and representatives in attendance including Peel Police, The Region of Peel, the Honourable Justice Marvin G Morton, Bruce Haines of Brampton-Neighbourhood Resource Centre, the Boys and Girls Club and United Achievers.

"Youth are the future of our city and community. We must ensure youth are empowered with the resources they need to make the change they want to see happen. This forum allowed for a greater dialogue between youth and community members to discuss strategies and solutions on the issue of youth violence" said Dr. Dhalla.