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The Provincial Aboriginal Youth Council (PAYC) is a youth council made up of youth aged 14-24 who are involved with Friendship Centres across BC. PAYC comes together four times a year when they attend the BCAAFC quarterly meetings. The BCAAFC is the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, and they act to link all the friendship centres in BC. These meetings are an opportunity for PAYC members to voice their hopes and concerns on behalf of youth.
What does PAYC do?
PAYC strives to:
- Represents youth voices at a provincial level
- Act as a liaison between Friendship Centre youth councils, PAYC, and the BCAAFC Board of Directors.
- Implement province-wide initiatives to benefit Aboriginal youth
- Provide a network of communication in which youth can learn about other friendship centres, both provincially and nationally, and the Friendship centre movement as a whole.
- Encourage and support BC Friendship Centres to develop strong local youth councils.
Recent PAYC Projects include:
- Planning a Youth Conference for March, 2006
- Holding workshops with youth councils at Friendship Centres in order to increase communication, share ideas, and build skills
- An Indigenous youth exchange to Guatemala
- Producing the Drumbeat Online Aboriginal Youth Newsletter: http://drumbeat.bc-payc.com
- Sponsoring PAYC day: a day where all the youth councils have the opportunity to apply for money to hold an event at their centre
- Attending and hosting meetings with other Aboriginal youth organizations and government leaders to create opportunities for Aboriginal youth in BC.
PAYC Structure
PAYC is made up of one representative from each of the 24 friendship centres in BC. Out of these representatives, 5 sit on the PAYC Executive Committee. The Executive Committee members are elected every year at the BCAAFC Annual General Meeting. They vote on the BCAAFC Board of Directors, and are responsible for speaking on behalf of PAYC when the BCAAFC is making decisions about goals and directions.
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