Youth Advisory Council

Pronouns: She/Her

Simi Sahota, is a passionate youth leader in her community. Simi has been a part of the Young Canadians’ Parliament (YCP), presented by Children First Canada, since its beginning.  Her work with Children First Canada has been multifaceted, from being a YCP Activator, to hosting events, being a panelist, volunteering as a facilitator and youth consultant. She now serves as the vice-chair of CFC’s National Youth Advisory Council (YAC).

Simi has also been an advocate for children’s right across Canada through her volunteer work with the Honourable Senator Rosemary Moodie’s bill on a National Child Commissioner for Children and Youth. She was a guest presenter at the 10th edition of the International Summer Course on the Rights of the Child at the Université de Moncton’s with Children First Canada, featured on Jodi Butt’s @risk podcast, and featured in her local newspaper discussing Raising Canada’s top 10 threats to childhood and how it affects her school community.

Pronoun: She/Her

My name is Sahar, I’m from Moncton, New Brunswick and I’m sixteen years old. I came to Canada three years ago. I’m on the Youth Advisory Committee of Moncton with the Mayor of our city and I have served as a Co-Chair. I’m also a leader in my school and I lead those students going to grade nine.

This summer (summer 2023) I went to Shad 2023 which is a summer program for students who are high achieving and leaders. I did a lot of volunteering at my local hospital and I’m also on the Francophone District Youth Council.

Pronouns: She/Her

Namirembe is a French immersion high school student of Ugandan and Ghanaian descent from a northern town in Manitoba.

She has participated in/is participating in various councils such as Experiences Canada’s youth advisory committee, Manitoba’s Education Minister’s Student Advisory Council, and Manitoba’s K-12 curriculum advisory panel. On top of this, she is an active member of her school and community. She particularly enjoys being on her school’s outreach committee as well as being a host for a local youth podcast called “Young Voices of the North” which strives to amplify northern youth’s points of view on both fun and challenging topics.

In the future, Namirembe’s main goal is to have a career where she can continue to advocate for marginalised groups at the local, national, and international levels.

Pronouns: She/Her

Maira Elahi is a high school student from Windsor, Ontario, dedicated to using technology, policy, and advocacy to serve her community. She has initiated various personal endeavours, namely establishing her own community initiative, working on app development, partnering with multiple organizations and academic institutions to research how emerging technology can assist disadvantaged groups, and spearheading a team in her city to educate students on the intersection of policy and justice.

Her unwavering commitment to using technology for social good and mobilizing youth in advocacy motivates and encourages her on a daily basis. On the Youth Advisory Council at Children First Canada, she is excited to continue doing the work she is most passionate about and spearheading meaningful initiatives for sustainable change!

Pronouns: She/Her

Zelal Emre is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Zelal is passionate about advocacy within her community through involvement in campaigns and fundraising, whether regarding the gender wage gap or natural disaster aid. Zelal has competed in debate and public speaking for years, and plans on pursuing law. Zelal is excited to collaborate to address issues in Canada and wants to create change.

Pronouns: She/Her

Josephine Maharaj (she/her) is a youth rights advocate based in Ottawa, Ontario. She first joined the Young Canadians Parliament in 2022. As an active member of the program, Josephine participated in several meetings with Parliamentarians, and spoke on the issues affecting young Canadians. As a first time member of the Youth Advisory Council, she will continue to dedicate herself to speaking up and raising awareness towards all areas of youth advocacy. Josephine firmly believes in children and youth engaging in matters that affect their lives.

Pronouns: She/Her

Rosette Godwin Matangwa (goes as Rosette), pronouns she/her, is 13 years old and lives in Toronto, Ontario. Although this is Rosette’s first time on a Youth Advisory Council, Rosette has been an active member of the ‘’Canadian Youth Parliament’’ and the ‘’Shaking the Movers” of the Department of Childhood and Youth Studies King’s University College at Western University She has been empowered to:

• Make her voice and the voice of youth heard on important issues.
• Share solutions and recommendations for change
• Provide feedback on ways to make the world a better place.

Rosette firmly believes in a Canada where children from different backgrounds have equal resources and opportunities to realize their dreams. Rosette is fluently bilingual (English and French) and passionate about visual arts, music, and roller skating.

Pronouns: He/Him

Rayn Asaria is a passionate 10-year-old living in Toronto, Ontario. His mission is to inspire his generation to leave a positive impact on our world and he believes that we can all play our part—from a community level right up to a global view. Rayn is dedicated to ensuring that young peoples’ voices are heard by community leaders and politicians through social media and journalism. He currently attends the Toronto French School and aspires to be fluent in English and French.

He has been featured on Breakfast Television and CHYM 96.7, discussing his love for politics and community service. He is actively involved with Children First Canada, currently a Member of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and was a Junior Reporter for the 2021 federal election.

Besides leadership, he loves interacting with nature, trying new foods and playing with his two siblings and two cats, Rosie and Rolo.

Pronouns: She/Her

Lucy Diaz is a passionate, 16-year-old, advocate who has been raising awareness about accessibility issues for the last 4 years. Being a daughter of immigrants and sister of a full-time wheelchair user has given her a deeper understanding of different peoples’ perspectives, which has helped her to excel in her goals. She is a high school student with high academic aspirations, but she is also a photographer, book lover and coffee connoisseur.

Her advocacy work focuses on ensuring all built environments are accessible, especially washrooms. Lucy has worked with hospitals and other medical facilities to create washrooms that will be accessible for the people who visit there, including her sister. She advocates because her sister, who is non-verbal, cannot. Despite constant pushback, Lucy continues to advocate because she knows that her sister and thousands of other disabled youth and adults need washrooms that are actually accessible.

Apart from her accessibility advocacy, Lucy advocates for climate action and is also on the alumni council of BC Heritage Fairs. She is very passionate about the preservation of history and is often researching historical topics she finds interesting, for example, Riverview Mental Hospital (now called Place of the Great Blue Heron) which she began to research at the beginning of the pandemic.

She is an active member of her church, which is Hispanic, often serving several times a week in several ministries, such as Sunday school and the Translation ministry (Spanish to English). Lucy Diaz believes that everyone deserves a voice, and if someone does not have a voice, she will use hers.

Pronouns: She/They

Katie Foley Tremblett (she / they) is a 17 year old student from Newfoundland and Labrador. Katie is in their final year of highschool and has been involved with the Young Canadians’ Parliament (YCP) since the 9th grade, and the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) for a little over a year.

She has gotten the chance to speak on both local, and national radio stations, on a panel for the University of Moncton, and be in local newspaper articles to talk about being a part of the YCP and YAC. Before that they were a part of a team that wrote and presented a bill with the goal of getting the voting age changed to sixteen in Canada which was a project that she worked on for nearly all of my 8th grade year. It was that project that inspired them to continue making sure that they stay involved, and try to make change where she think changes should be made. That brought her to the Young Canadiens Parliament and then to CFCs Youth Advisory Council.

Pronouns: He/Him

Krish Budhrani is a 16 year old from Calgary, Alberta. He is passionate about advocating for those who lack the ability to do so. Having been a part of the Young Canadians’ Parliament since November of 2022, he has become more active in politics. He has been working on a project with Senator Kutcher, has met with Minister Gould, and has volunteered for his local MLA. He has also started working on his own initiative to take action against child abuse with a former Young Canadians’ Parliament member, also from the 2022-2023 cohort.

He spends most of his time studying or taking part in various clubs and extra-curriculars, favouring those that involve writing or speaking, such as the newspaper and debating. However, it has only been in the last little while that Krish has rediscovered a keen interest in the sciences — specifically in the health sciences. He is interested to see how he can merge those two interests during his time with the Youth Advisory Council, and find new ways to continue helping people.

Pronouns: She/Her

Adelyn Newman-Ting pronouns she/her is 13 years old from Victoria BC. She lives with her parents and her dog Oscar. Her traditional name is Kesugilakw which means leader born to be, and her Chinese name is Ting Li-Wen. On her mother’s side she is Chinese from Taiwan and on her father’s side she is Kwakwaka’wakw, Coast Salish and English, Irish and Scottish.

Addy enjoys competitive jump roping (which is a sport!), art and field hockey. She is passionate about youth voices being heard as it will be their responsibility to make the world a better place.

When she was 12 she did a TEDxtalk with her father Carey Newman and wrote a book called Finding the Language as a UNESCO child author.

She is very excited to begin her first year as a member of the Youth Advisory Council for Children First Canada.

Pronouns: He/Him

Jayden Paquet-Noiseux (17) is a passionate youth leader in his community of Mont Saint-Hilaire Qc and is a first-year student at the University of Ottawa. His work with Children First Canada has been multifaceted, from being a YCP Activator to hosting events, being a panellist, and volunteering as a facilitator and youth consultant. He now serves as the Chair of CFC’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC).

Jayden has always invested a lot of his time in his school’s community outreach programs and with other organizations that focus on helping others. School hasn’t particularly been easy for him as he was a victim of bullying at the primary level and has had to overcome a lot of hurdles due to ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia.

In the last few years, he has been recognized Provincially, winning many awards and scholarships such as The Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Youth. His dedication, perseverance, involvement and advocacy work continue to inspire youth and adults alike.

Mégane (she/her) has experience on several youth advisory boards. She served on the RCMP National Youth Advisory Committee in 2019-2020 and on student councils for several years. Currently co-chair of the Children First Canada Youth Council, she works alongside young leaders from across the country to improve the society in which we all live. She wants to use her voice and platform to promote equity, children’s independence and good mental health. She believes that art, culture and knowledge should be made more accessible to all and that they should be a tool for the protection of children and human rights.

In the future, Mégane wants to go into medicine to specialize in traumatic surgery. Being a first medical responder since she was 16, she greatly appreciates enriching her experience in the medical field, which fascinates her greatly by the constant challenges, the need to quickly see all the possibilities, to push the limits of the imagination and science and to make things better during people’s worst times.In order to combine her keen interest in humanitarian aid and her love of medicine, Mégane wishes to be able to do work abroad as a doctor to facilitate access to medicine for all.”

Amelia Penney-Crocker, pronouns she/her, is 15 years old from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Amelia is passionate about climate change and women’s issues. When she was 12 she wrote a seris of book to teach children conflict resolution tools. Amelia continued to use writing as a tool for change when she took on a year long mission to write a letter a week to the Prime Minister about climate change. She also posts her letters on her website www.ameliapenneycrocker.com.

Anwar Boutahar is 14 years old from Toronto, Ontario. Anwar has years of experience in speaking publically, including television and is very active in advocating. Anwar has always paid attention to the issues that other people choose to ignore.

Pronouns: He/Him

Roman Wolfli, pronouns he/him, is 14 years old from Calgary, Alberta. Roman has been engaged with Children First Canada for a number of years and believes that children deserve the same rights and freedoms as adults. Roman is a skilled public speaker and leader amongst his peers. Roman spends a lot of time developing fake history, geography, and politics for his imaginary country, Rojane.

Taylor Johnston, pronouns she/her, is 18 years old from Cutler, Ontario. Taylor turned 18 while applications were being considered. She has had extensive experience in leadership development, such as Ontario Education Leadership Camps, Tim Horton’s leadership camps, and more. She also has experience as a youth advisor as a part of a Northern Indigenous Youth Council for her school board. Taylor wants children to know that they matter and that they come first.

Lyric Becker, pronouns she/her, is 13 years old from Kelowna, British Columbia. This is Lyric’s first time on a youth advisory council but she is a big thinker who doesn’t want to wait to make a difference in the world. She thinks it is so important for children to understand that they have rights so that they can be empowered to speak up for themselves. It is important to ensure that Canadian children are aware of their fundamental rights. She is a passionate storyteller and fantasy writer, currently working on four separate novels!

Kamil has been involved in leadership and advocacy work for many years. In recent years, he has served as the Co-Founder, President and Chairman of The Board for Calgary’s Youth Community Council. In highschool he also sat as the Student Co-Chair of the Diversity and Equity committee, Chairman of the Student Senate and Vice-President of his Interact Club.

Kamil is also a strong community advocate; he has served as Co-Chair on the Calgary Mayor’s Youth Council and is heavily involved within Rotary International’s District 5360; serving in many capacities at the local, provincial, national and international levels.

Kamil has also served as the President of the Calgary Ismaili Youth High School Club for the Prairies and was selected as one of five youth from across Canada to attend Global Encounters; a global leadership summit based in Pakistan. Most recently, Kamil has transitioned to university at the University of British Columbia and has joined the UBC Rotaract Club in which he serves as the Vice-President External and as Chair for Rotary International’s first ever Interact Advisory Council in which he advises the Rotary International President and represents 350,000 students from around the world.

Externally, he has undertaken the position of National Chairman of The Canadian Leaders United Summit, Co-Founder and Chairman of Flatten The Curve Canada, Vice-Regional Board Member for the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board for the Prairies, been elected as a Arts Undergraduate Society Representative to the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia in which he has served as Vice-Chair of the Governance Committee and a member on its Finance, Advocacy and Equity Committees, a Model Senator with the Senate of Canada and has been elected Chair of the Children First Canada Youth Advisory Council. In addition, he has worked with the City of Calgary as a Junior Recreation Leader and served as Chief Partnerships Officer with a technology startup company called Popular Innovations Inc.

These roles have allowed Kamil to speak before the Senate of Canada on Youth Engagement, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child as a member of the Canadian Delegation, receive two Paul Harris distinctions along with the likes of US President Jimmy Carter, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and others, the Rotary Club of Calgary Service Above Self Award, the Mayor’s Special Recognition of Service, the UBC Centennial Scholars Award, a TD Community Leaders Finalist recognition, a Western Canada High School Lifetime Honors award, the Julia Turnbull Leadership Award, the Education Matters Future Leaders Award, the Owen Heart Foundation Honorarium and the United Way’s recognition as one of the strongest community builders in Southern Alberta.

Thalia Bueno, pronouns she/her, is 16 years old from Vaughan, Ontario. Thalia has not been on a youth advisory council before but she believes in advocating for and empowering vulnerable people within our society. She is ready to provide input when analyzing policies and help promote events through mobilization of youths. Thalia was on the poster for the Easter Seals Ontario’s fundraising campaign between 2014-2017. You could find her face all over malls, public transit and libraries.