The Youth Advisory Committee met up for their first meeting of 2019 at City Hall on Thursday.

A number of topics were covered including how to get the teens more involved in the city, a youth program at the YMCA, and the issue of garbage within Moose Jaw.

Committee members Ha'Keena Maneso and Lucas Dyck

Youth Advisory Committee member Lucas Dyck said issues regarding the environment are at the top of their mind right now.

"It.s not fair to ignore these issues and it's especially not fair to not let the youth know about these issues either, it does concern them, it involves them, especially when it comes to the environment. With regards to the plastic bag ban, it's not necessarily that we're trying to ban plastic bags it's more of 'Hey, we have a problem with these bags, what can we do to fix it?'. It doesn't necessarily mean we have to ban them."

The group has talked to City Hall about the idea of banning plastic bags in the past, and hold the annual initiative 'Global Warning,' which see's schools compete to see who can pick up the most garbage. Pieces of art are then made out of select items they have picked up, put on display, and then auctioned off. Dyck says they're trying to make this years Global Warning bigger than ever.

"Another main focus is getting more schools involved, getting those classes out to pick up the garbage, having a school wide competition for the art pieces, getting them auctioned off. That's the only way we're going to get more people aware about this."

Committee member Ha'Keena Maneso says another issue in Moose Jaw is our many cultures not being represented as much as they should or could be.

"We have a lot of different culture groups here in Moose Jaw. There are different cultures and there are so many things about different cultures that are rich and makes things very new and exciting. Sometimes we find that different culture groups stick together - we just want them to expand and create awareness about themselves."

The Youth Advisory Committee's next meeting is February 7th.