Activity 4.2.4 An Advisory Committee

Purpose

To make decisions and plans that affect others

Materials

None

Time

1 hr

Method

1. Facilitators should give an example of how a committee works before beginning this activity or ask participants for their views on how a committee works and why we have them.
2. Place participants into groups of five or six people. Facilitators should give each group the same issue to work on. Below are some suggested issues, or you can ask participants for some ideas.
3. Inform participants that the Prime Minister of Canada has asked them to find solutions for environmental and daily living issues that affect all Canadians. The committee members are also asked to make recommendations for changes to any existing laws.
   • Suggested Issue #1: Air Quality. The P.M. says too many children are suffering from asthma, and too many adults are dying from lung diseases. Doctors and scientists agree that smog and other air pollutants are the major causes. Your committee must make a plan to lower air pollution and suggest how much time it will take to enforce the new rules.
   • Suggested Issue #2: Hospital Care. The P.M. says that hospital care is becoming too much of a tax burden for Canadians. The committee must come up with a plan to offset the costs of hospital care. Doctors and nurses are threatening to leave if they cannot hire more staff to help out in their busy hospitals. Canadians don’t want to pay more taxes and they don’t want private hospitals.
   • Suggested Issue #3: Fisheries and Oceans. The P.M. says the oceans are becoming more polluted causing some fish to die, and some fishing companies are over-fishing. Many fish have been poisoned from living in the polluted waters and people are getting sick from eating them. Oil spills and toxic wastes are the main causes of water pollution. Your committee needs to find solutions to these problems.
   • Suggested Issue #4: Children Committing Crimes. The P.M. says that more and more young children are committing major crimes by the time they are 12 years old. These crimes include murder, drug trafficking, and armed robbery. The schools for young offenders are full of petty criminals and cannot handle big-time criminals. The jails are full of adult criminals and are not fit for young offenders. Your committee must come up with some solutions to this major problem.
4. Give participants approximately 20–30 minutes to complete their assignments. Ask each group to present their work to the rest of the class. (Each group may choose a leader to represent them.)
5. Ask each group to discuss any difficulties they encountered with this task. What did they learn? Were there many similarities or differences among the groups?