Snow Job: B.C. Government's Controversial Youth Jobs Campaign Implodes

Just a brief post about a recent example of the virulent anti-youth mentality that's pervasive among the political class in Canada. British Columbia's Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training teamed up with Toronto advertising juggernaut Cossette to produce a media campaign targeting young unemployed workers in B.C., an example of the ads is shown above. Needless to say the campaign itself has now become a news story as the young people across Canada are heaping scorn on this ill-advised, offensive, and frankly deeply out of touch with the youth of today (also sexist as one ad plays off the idea that women want to marry rich husbands). I actually tweeted about these ads a few weeks back when my cousin posted one of them on Facebook.

Christy Clark and Pat Bell

Gwen O'Mahony, the B.C. NDP's skills training critic stated yesterday that "[Youth] get the ads are trying to use humour but it seems they're not connecting with the audience." With B.C. Premier Christy Clark refusing to take concrete steps to lessen youth unemployment in the province it defies incredulity that $604,000.00 would be spent to mock unemployed youth as what this essentially amounts to is a rude slap in the face. This probably isn't the wisest move by Premier Clark who is plummeting in the polls and headed for defeat in next  year's provincial election.

Cossette's Andrew Bergstrom

This advertising campaign fits neatly into an overarching narrative of strategic abandonment of youth by government in Canada (and in all advanced economies). Premier Clark's neoliberal ideology severely limits what she can offer up in the way of substantive policy to assist youth who are facing record debt levels, years of precarious employment in insecure jobs, and the increasing inability to maintain their standards of living. This is simply another sad footnote in the politics of disposability and amid the creation of a permanent underclass in Canada in which youth are controlled by debt, the inability to access secure jobs, and retrenchment of the social welfare state - all developments that are troubling and which need to be vigorously contested.

Read about what the response to these ads have been has been: here, here, and here. Finally, if you feel inspired give the two boomers responsible for the advertising campaign a call: Cossette's Managing Director Andrew Bergstrom at (416) 922-2727 and B.C.'s Minister of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training Pat Bell at (250) 356-2771. Young people need to let governments know that half-measures cooked up by advertising executives do little to stem a youth unemployment rate that's hovering at 14.7%. Finally, here's an oldie, but a goodie with little ole' me giving some context to youth unemployment in Canada, see: