Kevin Chief, Honourable Minister Of Children And Youth Opportunities
Kevin is a life-long resident of Winnipeg’s North End and was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for Point Douglas on October 4, 2011. He was appointed Minister of Children and Youth Opportunities by Premier Greg Selinger in January 2012. He graduated from The University of Winnipeg in 1998 with a Bachelor Degree with a major in Justice and Law Enforcement and a minor in Physical Activity and Sport Study. He ran the successful Eco-Kid programs as Coordinator of UWinnipeg’s Innovative Learning Centre and helped create the Collegiate Model School, and also served as Director of the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Centre. He is currently working on his Masters of Education. Kevin and his wife Melanie have one son, Hayden, born in 2010.
Congratulations! You are a relatively new MLA and now you are taking on the challenge of establishing a new ministry. What does a Ministry of Children and Youth Opportunities mean to you?
My passion is working with kids who face multiple barriers so this is very exciting. I am also a recent father so I think about what kind of community and supports I want for my son. I am very mindful that years of investment in children and youth already exist and so I hope to build on that. It is logical to build a new department that is devoted to harnessing expertise in this area.
Paint a picture of what might exist five years from now as a result of this new Ministry.
This is about building partnerships. It is about supporting programs that are doing well, and creating new program where there are gaps. My goal is to engage a whole bunch of people who have not had contact with a government or a minister. There are thousands of kids and youth I have worked with and it’s about creating a mechanism so they have a way in, that is what real community engagement is about. I want to look at using social media to connect with youth, because we are a new department that allows us to be innovative and we need to take advantage of that.
How did your career at UWinnipeg and your extensive work with the Eco-Kids programs prepare you for your new Ministry?
The University of Winnipeg has been very good to me. My biggest challenge in life was economic. The University removed that barrier. I was able to travel and country playing basketball and get a good education at the same time. What was really invaluable is that it gave me a whole network of strong people behind me. When Dr. Axworthy said we need to share our resources as a University within the community, that leadership allowed me to come back and be creative and find ways to give back. It is about looking in the eyes of a child who is poor and seeing potential, not problems. So the Opportunity Fund, for instance, is unique because we reached out to young children, as young as grade four.
You attended Strathcona Elementary School, Isaac Newton Junior High and Tec Voc High School before coming to The University of Winnipeg on a basketball scholarship. Your life as an inner-city and North End kid was transformed by sport. How did playing for the Wesmen allow you to develop your talents on and off the court?
There are three core things that are great about sports in connecting with kids. The first is a sense of belonging. That is very powerful, and can go in the wrong direction, in gang life. The positive sense of belonging that a team gives is huge. The second is that it allows young people the ability to contribute. Every time I shot a basketball I had the name of my school on my back, I was contributing something. And the third is talent development. It allows kids to develop athleticism but also teamwork and social skills. That is invaluable.
As you know, with the Government of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg’s financial help, we are creating a new Health and RecPlex on our campus that will serve both our students and our surrounding neighbourhood. What difference do you think this can make in the life of inner city children?
It is enormous. An inner city facility like this gives kids that tap on the shoulder, a place to belong. The field house represents a very specific way that we can build resilience in youth.
The University of Winnipeg has already done a lot of this work in creating community sport programs with Grant Richter. This builds on that momentum. It also opens up new possibilities with soccer that fits the growing demographic. It will be phenomenal.
Article by Diane Poulin
