Youth Action Comittee (YAC)

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Chase Quewezance

My name is Chase Quewezance, I am 16 years old. I live in Edmonton, Alberta. I love playing football, its my favourite sport. I’ve been playing it since I was 8 years old. I do alright in school. I am planning on attending university to become a chemical engineer but hope to play pro football as well. Furthermore, I like to travel alot. It seems like I’m always on a plane going somewhere new. I’ve been in the YAC since March 2011. I like the YAC and what we do: the fact that we are able to share our thoughts (and not smoking) plus that people listen to what we have to say. My highlight of the YAC is the conferences we go to. I get to interact and meet members in the committee. I have met some great friends.

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Cherie O’Brien

Hey my name is Cherie O’Brien, I am a Yukon native from the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations tribe of the wolf clan. I was born December 20^th 1994. I enjoy being out at camp and spending time with family and friends. I just recently became a member of YAC and attended the conference in Ottawa, August 2011, and I look forward to expanding knowledge of other youth about tobacco awareness.

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Jake Ivany

Hey everyone, Jake here!

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Kayla Reid

Hi, my name is Kayla Reid and I am 15 years old. I was born on July 9, 1996 and I’ve lived in Toronto my whole life. Outside of going to school, I love playing sports like basketball, soccer and football. I also have a passion for helping people and I am willing to help whenever needed. I joined the YAC at the end of August and I really enjoy it. I think it’s a great way to learn more about tobacco and how to help people to stop smoking it or chewing it. I love the fact that I am able to learn something new and then educate someone else with what I have learned. I am glad I’m able to be apart of the YAC so I am able to share with other people the knowledge I have gained and give them the opportunity to share with so many more people facts about the issue of tobacco.

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Keegan Hanson

Hi, My name is Keegan Hanson. Most of my friends call me Rory. I live in a small village called Beauval (Beautiful Valley). I am 16 years old and I have been a part of the Students Commission since March of 2011. I love the outdoors, mostly when i’m hunting. I also commercial fish with my Grandfather. I love to cross-country ski. Skiing is my favorite sport. I also play hockey and soccer. One of my biggest dreams is to roller ski across Canada for cancer research. My goals as of now are to encourage young teens to quit smoking or not to start. That’s about it!

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Laura Snow

Hi! My name is Laura Snow, I’m 14 years old and I’m from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. I love working on the YAC because I get to make a difference in my community and meet so many inspirational people around my age that are really passionate about this cause. I’ve only been on the committee for a couple of months, but so far it’s been a really great experience. YAC is the first time I have really gotten involved in my community and it’s cool feeling like you have a say in things, and even get to advise people from Health Canada about what we think.

Fun Fact: I train 10 times a week for swimming and I absolutely love it!

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Maggie Quinn

Hi, my name is Maggie Quinn, and I am an eleventh grader from Vancouver, BC. In August 2011, I was thrilled to join the Youth Action Committee. Like many of the others involved, I have had several family members pass away due to the effects of nicotine. This has motivated me to get the message out to British Columbia’s population. I am so excited to be able to work with such an inspirational group of people and to make tobacco awareness such a huge part of our lives. I love playing sports, including soccer and field hockey, and I want to put a huge emphasis on the effects of tobacco in sport in my YAC projects.

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Meaghan Arsenault

Hi, my name is Meaghan. I’m 17 years old and I live in a small town in Prince Edward Island. When I’m not busy doing schoolwork, you can find me either hanging out with friends or on the rugby field. I’ve been involved with the YAC since the end of August and I love it. I really like being a part of my community and getting a say in what I think! The conferences we go to are amazing and so are all the people we meet!

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Nicole Nicholas

My name is Nicole, I’m from Whitehorse, Yukon. I am a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations tribe. I was born September 26th 1994. Some of my interests are snowboarding, sledding, dancing, and yoga. I am the youngest of 3 siblings. I have a great interest on helping youth make the right choices. This summer I was working as an education programs assistant where I started looking into how youth can help themselves and to lead a better life. I would like to see less youth and children smoking. I really enjoyed my summer job helping youth and would like to expand my help outside of work.

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Shanna Drozd

My name is Shanna Drozd. I’m sixteen years old, and living in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. My favorite sport is hockey, I love to snowboard, and I also enjoy playing volleyball and soccer. I keep myself busy with sports, work, and school. I became a member of the YAC in March of 2011. I really like that this is a group that is heard, and our voice is considered in decision making. I like helping others in quitting and preventing tobacco use, and influencing them to live a healthy life. In addition, I love the opportunity to meet and work work with so many great people!

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Sara Hasson

I have only been a member of YAC for a short time now. But, every minute of it had been an amazing experience. I can think of so many reasons as to why I became so interested in making a difference in my community pertaining to tobacco use. Anything from watching so many of my friends standing outside in the freezing cold or pouring rain just to have that daily cigarette, to watching those gruesome anti-smoking videos in class. I’m not all about saying no don’t so this, or no don’t so that. I simply just want to inform, and be a helping hand. Something that a lot of kids never have a chance at getting!

I was originally born in Calgary Alberta, but now reside in the wonderful small city of Fredericton NB. I’m a grade eleven student, and loving every minute of. My schedules crowded with activities, and I can’t imagine it any other way! Can barely remember what I did last week, not a clue what I want to do tomorrow. But, I know what I want to do today. Make my difference as a youth in my area!

“With enough time, we all find what we’re looking for. Even if it was there all along.”

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Tuqqaasi Nuqingaq

Hi, my name is Tuqqaasi Nuqingaq, and I am from Iqaluit, Nunavut. I’m 14 years old, I was born on October 29^th, 1997. I love to write, read, and do different projects. At the moment I’m in grade 9 and my favorite subject is either music or Language Arts. I’ve been a part of YAC since Febuary 8^th,2012 (The night before the conference, so I basically packed my bags and flew pretty quickly. ) This is my second anti-smoking project. I’m interested in anti-smoking not because my own opinions on smoking (gross…), but because people at my school smoke. And no one does anything about it. Anyways, I’m happy to be in YAC, and hope to be in it for a very long time.