Fort Erie youth are ‘definitely not lazy,’ says chamber director

The head of the South Niagara Chambers of Commerce says the students applying for its scholarships are proof that a familiar complaint about young people is wrong.

Dolores Fabiano, the chamber’s executive director, reviews the applications for its annual scholarship program, which handed out 19 awards in June to graduating students in south Niagara.

Fabiano says the essays describe teenagers who volunteer and work co-op placements on top of school, often while their families struggle with rising costs.

“Sometimes you hear negative comments out there that young people are lazy or they don’t want to work, and that’s not true,” Fabiano told Fort Erie Radio. “My gosh, I don’t know where they find the time. They are definitely not lazy.”

The chamber funds its scholarships through its annual Sparkling Auction Gala. The next one is scheduled for October 16 at the Americana in Niagara Falls.

Fabiano says the essays have also informed her that many Fort Erie students are planning to carrying more of the cost of their own education than any generation before them.

“A lot of families are struggling. It is tough. Everything is more expensive,” she said. “Students, young people, shoulder more responsibility than ever before in terms of post-secondary education.”

Last March and again in May, students at Greater Fort Erie Secondary School walked out of class to protest provincial changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

The changes cap OSAP grants at 25 per cent of a student’s total aid–down from 85 per cent–with the rest coming as loans. The province also lifted its tuition freeze, meaning costs are expected to climb.

Data obtained by The Canadian Press in June showed Ontario spent $465 million more on OSAP grants between 2023-24 and 2024-25, with 95 per cent of that increase going to private career college students rather than those at universities or publicly funded colleges.

Premier Doug Ford has defended the cuts as necessary to keep the program sustainable.

Fabiano says the chamber sees its scholarships as a small way to ease that strain.

“If we can help relieve a little bit of that stress, that’s what we want to be doing,” she said. “Some stay local, some don’t, but our hope is that they always eventually come back.”

In Fort Erie, students apply with a short essay explaining what the scholarship would mean to them. The selection process varies by community.

After the gala, the chamber turns to the fall municipal election. Fabiano says it will host debates and meet-and-greets in every community it serves, hoping to reverse a decade of falling voter engagement. Just over a third of eligible voters–34.35 per cent–cast ballots in Fort Erie’s 2022 municipal election.

The chamber is still working out the format and schedule for the debates.

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