Fort Smith (May 26/03) - A Hay River woman is the co-chair of the new council of the National Rural Youth Network.

Jennifer Rooke was elected to the position at a national rural youth conference held May 1-4 in Orillia, Ont.

Jennifer Rooke of Hay River was recently chosen the co-chair of the new National Rural Youth Council. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"I'm very excited about it," Rooke says of her new role. "We have an amazing group."

The student at Aurora College in Fort Smith says the whole point of the National Rural Youth Network is to provide a forum for young people.

The network's council is made up of one representative from each province and territory.

The network is an effort to get youth - defined as people between 18-29 years of age - more involved in rural development. It is an initiative arising from the National Rural Conference held in April 2002 in Prince Edward Island.

Rooke, 28, says the goal of the network is to help youth with project ideas and to provide information, such as help in accessing funding from government.

She has already started to work on a proposal on day care subsidies for single parents leaving the NWT for post-secondary education. She stresses that is her own project, not a National Rural Youth Network initiative.

One council effort will be to spread the word about the Rural Youth Network and get as many young people involved as possible, Rooke says.

"Our goal is going to be to help provide strategies and approaches to make sure the network itself is effective," she explains.

The council will also advise Andy Mitchell, the secretary of state for rural development, on issues and government policy.

At the Orillia conference, Mitchell announced $25,000 in funding for the network.

"Such initiatives provide a platform for our country's rural youth to share their views on important issues," Mitchell said. "Youth have a critical role to play in building the social infrastructure that makes a community vibrant and successful. By supporting the National Rural Youth Network, we are supporting the leaders of tomorrow."