Hi, everyone! As a teenager, who has come from Ukraine and have been living in HRM for nearly 4 years, I have a word to say about the provincial budget cuts.

I have been involved quite a lot with my community, particularly in volunteering and awareness campaigns on top of my academic and extracurricular workload. Taking the bus anywhere to access such opportunities in this city is a lifeline, just like for all of us, teens. Yet these cuts only double down on an already deteriorating situation with our transportation system.

You see, up until moving here, I took access to transit for granted. Since then, I understood the importance of a simple thing such as taking a bus or a ferry around Halifax because I was new to the local culture. It is one of the reasons that I was able to integrate into the fabric of the Canadian, and eventually Nova Scotian community. Thanks to this system, I was able to make many connections that could have never been. I was able to keep up with the academic pressure, while having some time to explore my interests and enjoy life. Despite going to an independent school, I strongly resonate with many of my friends, who rely daily on free student passes to get to school, work and play because for me, everyone under 18 needs a universal transit access in the HRM. The car ownership is quite costly, even for adults, as you have to pay $1,000/month for maintenance, gas, parking, insurance etc., this is why young people take the bus since it’s cheaper and can help us get places. Plus, freeing the students and their parents from paying an exorbitant amount of $792/year for transit is a lifesaver in Halifax that is only getting more expensive to live in.

However, the intent of the provincial leaders should be to strengthen the province itself, and it starts by investing into its future, which is youth and teenagers. Therefore, it is their job to help us thrive in Nova Scotia, and cuts to vital programs is not normal.

Anyways, there is a way we can unite in these times of the hardship. You can sign my petition to save and restore funding for the Student Transit Pass Pilot Program: with more resistance, there will be more pressure for the government to change their mind on whom the cuts might be targeting. I still believe that this province has a chance to have a bright future, and so can you!

The budget cuts might be failing our futures, but they can be saved)