 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are poised for an exciting evening as the National Youth Council of St. Lucia, the recognized voice, an umbrella organization for youth, prepares to select its leadership at its annual General Assembly, where youth representatives from across the length and breadth of St. Lucia cast their ballots for the members of the new executive. I am your host, former NYC president, Jonathan Shalor. Stay tuned for an enthralling one-hour program with three outstanding young leaders who are vying to lead the St. Lucia National Youth Council. For those of you watching at home and on Facebook, keep the comments coming, and you are free to post your questions to the candidates you wish to engage. This is a town hall-style debate, and you, the audience, you are invited to pose your questions to the assistant moderator at the back who will guide you accordingly. Each candidate shall have one minute and 30 seconds to respond to a initial question and 30 seconds for a follow-up contribution. When you are left with 20 seconds, our timer, the ravishing ramel polius, will indicate to you how much time is left and when your time has elapsed. Let us exercise discipline and adhere to our timeline as this is a live show, and there are many topics we wish to explore. Gentlemen, I urge you to capitalize on this opportunity to reach out to young people and less engage in positive dialogue on conversation as we edify the nation on youth issues and mobilize support for your respective campaigns. Our three contesting candidates vying for the position of president are to my immediate right, Mr. Nias Alfred, Mr. Robert René Sandwiched in the middle, and Mr. Dwight George to my far right. Welcome, gentlemen. We'll open the batting with Mr. Alfred, who is the outgoing first vice president of the National Youth Council. Give us a sense of your track record, your involvement in youth, and why should youth invest confidence in you as the highest level as president. Thank you very much, Shalawan. Thank you to everybody for being here. Like you mentioned, my name is Nias Alfred. I am from the community of Chuzel, very beautiful community of Chuzel, I might add. I began youth work at a very tender age, 12 years old, and the reason I got into youth work was to basically get away from a lot of the distractions that I had around me growing up, and that is something that I got to love, and it was through my love for youth and for youth development that I got started at the primary school level, the secondary school level growing up. Education, advocacy and education was extremely important to me, and that basically lent into my involvement on the community level, my involvement on the national level as well, and like you said, I was recently the first vice president of the National Youth Council, and even in my professional capacity, I've always found a way to include youth development because that is indeed my passion, as I serve as the co-founder of a social enterprise and as the executive director of a company that uses sports for social development of at-risk young people. So youth development is indeed what I have spent the last 15 years doing, and I have decided to take on the step of going up to for the presidency of the National Youth Council, because I believe that it is the right moment that I engage the young persons around me in order to ensure meaningful change for the young people in San Wichey. Mr. Rene, what is your track record in youth development, and why should you be voted in as president? Thank you. First of all, I'd like to of course commend the National Youth Council and the Electoral Committee for putting together this wonderful debate. I think we should also replicate that on the, when I say the national level, I mean with regards to our political candidates as well. I think it's important for individuals to get a chance to hear what the candidates have to see. Having said that, in 2005, I received the Youth of the Year for the South Caste Youth and Sports Council for outstanding contribution to youth work. And of course, that is approximately 14 years ago. So that should give you an idea of how long I have been involved in youth work. I was a member of the San Lucia Cadeco. I was a member of the San Lucia National Youth Choir. I was also a national cricketer. So of course, I have been a part and parcel of both sports and youth development. And I am presently the president of the South Caste Youth and Sports Council, of which we have been making considerable strides in our community with regards to youth development. And so I believe that the time is very fitting for myself to be at the helm of the National Youth Council because I realize that over the past few years, the National Youth Council has not met the needs of those young people who actually need the intervention. And so we need somebody at the helm to ensure that there is no young person left behind when it comes to national youth policy. Thank you, Rene. Mr. George, you are the fresh face in the youth movement. Tell us what you bring to the table and why should you feel like you as president? Good evening. Thank you for having me. I'm very honored to be here. My initial phase began and in youth development began in church as I was the president of the Christians in Action Youth Group, which is a Catholic based youth group. And also from there, I went into the Action Youth Coordinator, which is I am now present, and the vice president of the Artistic and Cultural Youth Development Canvas. I am also sitting on the chair of the YAC, which is a youth group also stemming from the Catholic Church. I will not say that I am the best candidate for, I will not start off by saying that I am the best candidate because we are all, we would not be sitting here if the committee did not think that we will best for this. But my solutions and my five ambitions prove that I am ready and I am the best for this. Thank you. All right. Let's look at NYC structures. What do you think are the most important government issues for incoming NYC executive? If you want to look at membership on Attach Youth, Constitution Reform, Advocacy, what do you guys think would be priority number one? Let's start with Ricky, Mr. George. Can you repeat that please? In terms of governance issues, what do you think would be the most important than most pressing issue that the NYC should tackle? I believe the most pressing issue that governance should tackle, it is unemployment. It is affecting many youths on the island and I think that is where we need to focus our energies and time. Rene? With regards to the NYC structure, the fact is, I believe that the National Youth Council can do more to ensure that our District Youth and Sports Councils are functioning properly. The District Youth and Sports Council would be the vehicle, it's the catalyst by which we are going to implement all our programs. If they are not functioning properly, then it is going to be extremely difficult to implement the changes that we want to change. And at present, we have quite a number of District Youth and Sports Councils, extremely deficient. And I hate to say it, but it is a fact. The Choselle Youth and Sports Council, they have not been functioning at optimum capacity. And I was happy that he mentioned Choselle in his preamble that he's from this community because for you as a vice president to be from Choselle and for Choselle to not be functioning as a Youth and Sports Council, I think that is very indicative of the fact that the National Youth Council or even Mr. Nia Salfred, who was responsible for Choselle, failed to ensure that our District Youth and Sports Councils got the help and the resources that they need. So I would believe the first order of business would be to ensure that all our District Youth and Sports Councils will be functioning at optimum capacity because I know I believe that we have the young people in San Lucia to full and complete our executives. Mr. Salfred? Okay, first of all, I would like to take a few seconds just to respond to Mr. Nia and that would definitely, the meaning of functional, what do we really determine or define as functional? Because an executive like the South Caster Youth and Sports Council that has had several resignations over the past year, is that what we call functional? All right. And the question was, how do we basically ensure that, you know, in terms of the structure of the NYC, what we should focus on? And I do believe that it has to be a marriage between advocacy and action. Too much in the past, we've just basically been spitting in the sky. And you know, when you spit in the sky, the spit when it comes back down. So we need to ensure that we marry advocacy with key action policies. And I believe that my team has put together a manifesto. We don't want to call them a women's action plan that speaks to engaging young people at all levels, young people at the grassroots level, young people at every single level that have otherwise not been engaged in the youth development agenda in San Nusha. And I think it is imperative that we have a leadership that is visionary and one that can actually relate to the young people in San Nusha. So I definitely think responding to your question, moderator, that it has to be a marriage between advocacy and action. Just to speak, the fact is, with regards to our resignations, as you rightly mentioned, we have had some of our executive members resign. One resigned because they had to leave the state for personal issues. That's a resignation. The other resigned because they were moving on to higher education. That's two resignations. So for you to come and try to insinuate that it is because we are not functional that we have these resignations is misleading. And I'm very happy that you brought that up and gave me an opportunity to clear that up. I just want to dwell on this a little. I will unattach youth. How do we get them involved? The youth on the block? The young professional who has come back from studies? How do you guys propose that the NYC engage these talents that we have out there? Well, the NYC that I will be elected to Chalon has definitely made key strides in trying to figure out the way to engage these very same young people. And with an NYC, a seven-member executive can never do it all. You have young persons from all brettes and lengths of the country who have key skills and expertise to contribute. And I think that as an NYC, we need to commission the NYC committees as they're supposed to. The Education Committee, Public Relations and all these committees to bring in young people who have the expertise. And even young people in the diaspora, through the Youth Ambassadors Network International, that we're proposing to launch is a key opportunity to tap into the expertise of the young persons who are Sen Lushan but they don't get the opportunity here. So they see no option but to go overseas and contribute. So we definitely want to engage all young persons whether or not they are in Sen Lushan or out of Sen Lushan. But definitely the plans and proposals that we have outlined in here will speak directly to engaging like we said every single young person. Not just those on the block but also those young professionals otherwise are not engaged because I used to work at the bank and it's very, very difficult for young professionals to get engaged. So definitely that is something that we are keen to accomplish. Mr. George, you want to weigh on the tattoo? Yes, I believe that not all youth respond to the same dialect. We need some different tactic to pull in those in the rural areas as well as those on the blocks. It is not only through the books and through the ropes that you pull them in. You use the strengths and the weaknesses as well to pull them in. Competitions, football competitions, music competitions and so far I believe those are the things that will bring in the rural and the youth on the block. Rene? Again, it is extremely important to to work on the ground level. It is extremely important to literally walk through the communities if necessary. A lot of young people that have spoken to say to me, they don't know about the NYC. A lot of them say that they don't feel like they can connect to the NYC because the NYC over the years have catered to a particular strata of young people and they have not catered to the young people on the ground. The truth of the matter is if it means that you need to and I like that you mentioned the committees because you were there for two years, there was an education committee. The education committee that that you guys set up, how much advocacy work did you do on behalf of the schools? And I honestly believe that we have come, we have arrived at the point where we can no longer trust individuals who just come and say let's let's do this as they have rightly as they have done in the last election. All these promises were made, two years was spent in office and nothing was done. So we must get to a point now where you need people who are willing to go into the communities, speak to the young people on the ground and as we have done and again I like to lead by example the South Cassius Youth and Sports Council literally walked through the community of Goodlands when we were looking to re-establish our Youth and Sports Council and talk to the young people. I believe that's the sort of ambition that we need in the National Youth Council. Thank you. First of all the education committee was set up yes but the job of the education committee was basically to empower the students council, the national students council which is on the depot view of the NYC. And I like the fact that Mr. Reddy mentioned walking through the communities because fun fact I live in Cicero and I have lived in Cicero for the past six months and the young people in Cicero do not know about the South Cassius Youth and Sports Council. Members of my team are from communities in Cicero, in South Cassius, from Bexon. They have not heard of the South Cassius Youth and Sports Council. So to insinuate that you know because you you're going up for the NYC elections that basically there was nothing done. Mr. Reddy you were at most of the activities of the NYC but you were there but to insinuate that nothing was done. I mean that is preposterous. Alright guys I think we have to move on we have a tight schedule. What do you guys think is the most fundamental issue facing young people and how does an NYC champion such an issue? Dwight spoke about unemployment, you have tokenism, poor youth programming, you alluded to the disconnect that young people feel towards institutions for instance the NYC. What do you think is the biggest issue and how does NYC address that issue? Any one of you? Okay one of the issues I think that we can all agree on is that young persons are not being engaged enough and one of the key our flagship program for the team that I'm running on YTH is a program called the opening doors for opportunities program that would basically target young persons, actress young persons from vulnerable communities and what we would do is that we would use sports that breed the most unifying thing to bring them together and when we have them there we will mandate that they participate in capacity building workshops, job readiness symposiums, live-skinned trading sessions and everything that would have build them into holistic individuals that would contribute to society both on a professional and a personal level. Too often have we seen young persons in the community saying that they don't have much to do and every single organization or stakeholder has failed in that regard and the job of the NYC in that regard as well would be to empower the youth and sports councils to run with that program. The NYC is supposed to be the coordinator of programming not the central organization that runs all the programming so we bring together all the technical expertise, we bring together the resources which we've worked very hard over the past couple of years to bring into the organization and we empower the youth and sports councils to run with these programs and to implement them so for sure that is one of our flagship programs and everything that we do will revolve around this flagship program. Thank you. First of all the Southcast Youth and Sports Council engage the Cicero Seagulls sports group in Cicero. We provide a calendar of activities and one of the things that was on the calendar of activities was community walkthroughs. Cicero was a community or is a community that is on schedule for us to walk through which means it will be done. We are on the ground. I believe we this this gentleman here Mr. Alfred is indicating again that we are leaning towards sports. Everything cannot be sports. Not every young person is interested in sports. We need to start creating other opportunities in youth development. We are not just a sports council. We are a sport youth and sports council and youth development often times have been neglected. There are the creative arts, the drama, the music, then we segment look at what then we segment is doing for our country. Let us start using these facilities these avenues to bring our young people together to get them out of poverty to create opportunity for them to develop their skills in the arts as well as the sports. I agree. Yes we can use the sports but we must focus and again again we must cater to all young people and I believe if we only focus on sports we will be missing a large portion of our young people. So we must cater to youth development areas as well. Mr. George. I still stand by unemployment being the most the biggest problem youth are facing. Whilst I say that I read recently that youth cannot even afford to go to a job interview because they require the clothing, transportation, probably some snack or something and those are the bridge in causing them to I say not apply for the jobs. I think that the NYC should focus on youth training workshops as well as getting the funding which enable youth to in application processes and so forth. I think that we have quite clearly seen how this debate is going to pan out over the past over the next hour where Mr. René will try his best to outline all the issues that affect young people that we already know and Nia's Alfred and like Dwight has been doing will propose solutions. The debate is two questions in I mentioned sports. We have an action plan that speaks to every single thing that Mr. René spoke about. Engaging young people at all levels and over the past the next few days every single young person is going to be having access to this action plan that caters to young people from across all stratas. I want to share with you a quote from our founding president Mario Michel and I quote, when the government and the youth are in total accord then there is something wrong with the youth. When the government and the youth is in total discord there is something wrong with the government. Considering today's context how relevant do you think this statement is? Only sometime to digest that you want me to repeat the quote. I'll come again. When the government and the youth are in total accord then there is something wrong with the youth. When the government and the youth is in total discord then there is something wrong with the government. This really touches on advocacy and how NYC will position itself in dealing with issues of advocacy. How do you engage the government? When the time comes for militancy, when it calls for diplomacy, how does an NYC approach advocacy under your leadership? Unlike certain candidates on this platform, I believe that the individuals running for the post of the president should not align themselves with any political party. I believe doing that diminishes your voice. You start to, you are placing yourself in a conundrum and asking yourself, do I speak for the youth or should I speak against my, we should not hold the young people ransom when the government is not behaving themselves. When the government is not creating policies that cater to our young people. You need a leader that has no problem speaking against the government and if I might add, I think a lot of young people here know that Robert René has always been one to advocate on behalf of young people even when it means criticizing the government because last year when the government, when the parliamentarians were not behaving themselves in parliament, Robert René was the first person to stand up and say that we, the young people deserve better than that and I was and I criticized the both parties. We must not be an NYC that is going to be in bed with government official. However, we do understand the role that they will play in youth development and we would let them know, we would like to work with you. But, like Robert said, I don't, I also disagree with any president being in any political party. This affects the vision of the NYC which is to hold our policy makers accountable. I believe that to advocate on youth, what we need is more of the chill chats that happened at the past CYC Caribbean Youth Conference. This addresses a lot of the issues that affect the youth and it brings the policy makers to understand what the NYC is truly about. I think this discussion needs to happen and need to continue. Do I tie your memory LPM? No, I'm not. Definitely, I do think that there is a room, as you mentioned Jonathan, for times for the NYC to be outspoken and times for the NYC to display a certain level of decorum, a certain level of diplomacy. And I do think, and I've said it in the past, and I've been quite vocal about it, that the NYC is supposed to speak on every issue that affects young people. But the question asked about advocacy, the role of the NYC in advocating for young people to ensure that their voices are heard. And in our action plan, we have the concept of the NYC TV. And we've already had an agreement with Choice TV to start as soon as Team YTH is elected to start of NYC TV on September 7th, 2019. And the program is basically going to target young people at all levels. There will be an underblock program where we go directly into the communities to hear from the young people we don't actually hear from on a normal on a day-to-day basis. And I think that that will do wonders in terms of empowering young people to advocate. Because as much as seven members of the executive are supposed to do it, empowering them is much more powerful. And the NYC TV will seek to speak to that, and will seek to give every single young person in this room an opportunity to hear their views and the views of the persons within their circles. Last year, Ms. Linus Alfred and his and the then second Vice President Mr. Janie Le Bon attended a workshop in Trinidad and Tobago. The workshop was particularly for advocacy. Do you remember that? I remember it. Okay, you remember that. So Ms. Linus Alfred attended a workshop on behalf of us young people, and yet still Ms. Linus Alfred failed to advocate on behalf of young people. So you're receiving the training, you're going, and this is a problem that we have had in the National Youth Council. People go overseas, they take bright nice pictures, and then whatever information or whatever skill that they receive does not filter down to our communities. We cannot have another two years of that. We must end this right now. I guess you don't do that. Of course. Yes, if Mr. René is comparing our records on advocacy, I think that would be very unfair to him. Because when we attended the advocacy workshop in Trinidad last year, the very first thing that we did was to put together a workshop for the youth ambassadors of the NYC, and their job was to go back into the communities and advocate for these things. And Mr. René has been going around saying about, you know, NYC takes fancy trips. Key fact, as First Vice President, Nias Alfred only attended two events on behalf of the NYC. All the other opportunities for young people who filtered down through the Youth Ambassadors Network. So the opportunities were created and they were taking advantage of. What's been going on if you're a youth ambassador's network? Ask your young people, the Youth Ambassadors Network has not been functioning at the opening number. It's again, just like the Shosei Youth and Sports Council, you put the Youth Ambassadors Network, yes, but over the year, the few years, the Youth Ambassadors Network has not been properly manned. It has not had proper activities. The Youth Ambassadors Network is almost non-existent. I have to respond to that because it seems like Mr. René is a youth ambassador himself. I am a youth ambassador. Because the Youth Ambassadors Network is funding from the law trees where we've had training programs. Two members of my current YTH team come from the Youth Ambassadors Network, which speaks to the development through that network. And several opportunities have been created for these ambassadors to serve as representatives, both locally, regionally and internationally. To ensign you with that Youth Ambassadors Program, while there are challenges, while there are, and I will admit that there are challenges, the Youth Ambassadors Network and a lot of ambassadors can tell you it has done the job that it was supposed to. It's not perfect, but it's a work in progress. Alright guys, we need to move on. I was, I had planned a nice hot button issue, but it's very hot in here right now. There are many youth today who identify with the LGBTQ community and believe in issues such as legal abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, and LGBT rights. There are many, especially in our faith-based community, who are in opposition to the advancement of such agendas. What is your take on the issue, and how would you handle controversial issues such as these as NYC President? If I may, if I may, about a, I believe it was last week. I did an interview with Hot 7 News. I also did an interview with Choice TV. In response to what some had dubbed to be the gay pride parade, which was supposed to have been taking place there in St. Lucia. All those who know me know that my foundation is in the 7th day Adventist Church. But I say to people, quite frankly, that even as a 7th day Adventist, I'm not going to impose on anybody's rights to choose. I believe it is important that we be an NYC for all young people, including the LGBTQI community. And I would not allow my Christian beliefs to impede people's right to choose. And for me, that's where it stopped, just because Robert Rennie may not ascribe to another denomination or another sector's belief, whether it be the Rastafarians. All of us have the right to choose. And that, for me, is what's important. That's what, that's the beauty of democracy. We must protect that right to choose. Unlike Mr. Rennie's recent advocacy of the LGBTQ community and the issues, the issues that face young people in St. Lucia, in the LGBT community, they are not new. These issues have been issues that have been perpetuated over the past decades. And one of the things that we keep doing when it relates to these issues is we keep speaking in the sky. We keep saying that there is an issue. Yes, we know that there is an issue, but an NYC under the leadership of YTH will ensure that we give young persons in that community a seat at the table. We stop speaking about the issues, the issues will always be there, but we need to bring them to the table and ensure that we discuss pragmatic and sustainable solutions to engage them in the community, to engage them in youth development work, and all aspects as well. And I do agree that every single young person in St. Lucia has the right to choose, no matter where exactly, what exactly you do. Right? So that is something that we agree on. Mr. George? Yeah. Thank you, Nyus, for saying that they need to be included at the seat. One of my ambitions in my manifesto, it is gender and gender equality, which is inclusiveness for everybody, including that of the LGBTQI plus community. Yes, there are issues that they face and the pride, it is not a parade, it is a fashion show and a boat ride, correcting you on the next. No, I already established that it was not, it was there was no gay pride parade, I found that out, yes. While we know of the issues, one of my manifestos seek to address them, highlight them, and to put an end to them. Thank you. If I may interject, Mr. Alfred had two years to bring them to the table. You had two years to bring them to the table. You are a typical politician, Mr. Alfred. You cannot keep at the, every time you want votes, every time we want votes, we're coming. Yes, let us promise you, you were there for two years and you did nothing, you did not bring them to the table. So why should we trust you now to bring them to the table now? Why should we do that? Give you another two years. And in fact, you know, somebody told me that and I stand, I could stand corrected that you were one of those advocating that you should not run for a second term in election and hey, you are again. So you are typical politician, you lie into the bedroom. Let's, guys. You lie into the bedroom. Let's not do that. Let's avoid, let's avoid the one-on-one attacks and let's stick to the issues. I believe you'd want to respond. Of course. And like I always say, I did initially state that I would not recontest the elections of the NYC. But at one point, I felt that I have built a foundation to keep going. Because one of the problems NYC has had is that we have a lot of one-term NYCs. And when we come to basically go into the NYC for another term, it's just a restart. And I agree, and I do want to straight from the point. I agree with everything you said, Mr. George. And whichever one of us comes to be elected as president of the NYC, I will work with you to ensure that the issues in your manifesto are addressed. All right. So I believe it's time for a break. We'll get some water. We'll cool off. I think we need to turn in the AC. It's been a wonderful show just far. I'm sure those of you at home are enjoying. So we'll take a break. Thank you. Thank you. Social media is the prevailing mode of communication for today's youth. What role do you think social media can play in advancing the youth agenda? And in what ways do you see social media as a threat to youth? You want me to give it a go again? Social media is a prevailing mode of communication for today's youth. What role do you think social media can play in advancing the youth agenda? And in what ways do you see social media as a threat to youth? I think I'll begin that. And yes, social media definitely can play a key part, but I want to just burn it a bit, shout out to technology on the whole. And I think that has a critical part to play in terms of engaging young people, because as much as we want to visit the communities, how many of us can attest to the fact that we've planned meetings in the communities and young people actually show up? So we need to find creative ways of bringing young people into that space through what they already know, that's technology and social media is a part of it. So that is why a team with the YTH has proposed an NYC website and an app which will engage every single young person to engage them of the activities that the NYC are doing, to give them a platform as well that they can showcase the things that they're doing within their communities and to create that virtual space where they can interact and they can learn about the other aspects of youth development in Saint Lucia with like-minded individuals. So I definitely think that that is a part to play and for our team, that is definitely a focus and we intend to launch that app and website within the first four months of being elected. For the first time, I think me and Mr. Alfred, we agree on one thing. Our team, in our last preliminary discussions, we decided that the National Youth Council must have a website. Why doesn't the National Youth Council have a website? Right? We are talking about living in an age of technology and the parent body for all youth organizations on the island does not have a website and again, these very individuals who NYC did not have a website under is now promising a website. I don't believe that they have the ambition to deliver it. Second thing, as the President of the South Caste Youth and Sports Council, I understood the importance of social media. When one of our youth parliamentarians found herself being bullied after youth parliament this year, the South Caste Youth and Sports Council decided to begin an anti-bullying campaign of which we targeted young people on social media. We created a Vine or what we call a PSA, a short one-minute video and promulgated it on Facebook and Instagram and all the social media platforms. I believe it's time for us again, we're marrying the arts with social media to reach the young people and I believe that is the method by which we should go. While we agree that our young people are very tech savvy and glued to our phones, a website is long overdue for the NYC as well as the youth directory. The directory which leads to all youth councils, district councils, student bodies, NSCs, those need to be brought forward and placed on that website. I think that is one thing that we agree on definitely but in Mr. René's quest of trying to prove and like I said is when do I let all the issues and I'm going to give the solutions but in this one case I find that I need to respond. That is definitely something that I take full responsibility for the NYC not having a website. But it doesn't seem like Mr. René did much research about the team that he's going up with because one of his candidates was previously the PRO of the NYC National Youth Council with their responsibility for overseeing something like a website. So where is the website, why didn't we inherit it? If I may speak to that, the individual was on the NYC for a brief time in Turim. Two years. Okay, brief time and so nonetheless, and I find it somewhat hypocritical of you to criticize somebody that you see was on the executive for two years. They did not accomplish the website but you were also there for two years and you didn't do it and now you want another two years to get it done. So I do not buy into the fact is as a president of a Youth and Sports Council I have a track record of getting things done in my constituency and that is what I'm bringing to the table with the National Youth Council. All right, so we have a question from Facebook from SBFrancis. Should NYC seek to have a position with government to review policies that affect youth? Do you think it is important for a youth review to be done over certain policies before they are passed to ensure a youth voice is added? I'll go for that again. Should NYC seek to have a position with government to review policies that affect youth? Do you think it is important for a youth review to be done over certain policies before they are passed through to ensure a youth voice is added? Yes, if I may. I believe that should have been the purpose of youth parliament for one. The youth parliament should have been an exercise where young people on the island speak to issues that affect young people, speak to policies that affect young people. I also believe that it's why don't we have an independent senator from the National Youth Council right in the Senate? Why? We need to start thinking on that level because it is important again for the NYC, for the voice of the young people to be heard. And I believe yes, we should take a look at all policies before it is passed. Definitely. Right? Yes, I definitely agree with our commenter. The policies that our policymakers affect our youth directly and indirectly, and it is important, highly important, that we have a place at the table to discuss those policies and see them before they are put to pass. Okay, I will not spend time on the issue because we've highlighted it pretty well because we know the issue and we know the issue of youth parliament. That is why the YTH team has proposed a restructuring of youth parliament which will ensure that youth parliament is a place where you can actually go and pass, not pass but discuss actual bills that then go into the upper and the low house to be discussed and with the possibility of actually passing them through parliament. Too long have we sit around and said that youth parliament is something which should be improved and we have no solutions to the issues. So what we've proposed is the fact that young persons to youth parliament are elected within their various communities through the district youth and sports councils and it's a period of two years where they work closely with the permanent secretaries of the various ministries to ensure that they build or develop programming and they review policies to bring it to the young people of Saint Lucia and to ensure that youth parliament is actually something that we can see that we're proud of that can level the likes of Suriname, for example, that has a great youth parliament structure. All right, we have another question from Anthony Duncan Glasgow. What is your take on legal abortion? What is your take on legal abortion? So I guess this commenter is asking, you know, do you think that Saint Lucia should engage in legal abortion laws? Do you think it's something that NYC should probably push? What is your take? Again, again, I advocate for a woman's right to choose. I advocate for a woman's right to choose. I am not going to tell any woman who has been molested, who was raped, that she has to keep a child that may very well be the reminder of that particular difficult experience for her rest of her life. If we decide to legislate and say that it's mandatory for women to go through a full term of pregnancy, I think we are opening a kind of worms. We are denying women the right to choose and I don't believe, again, in fringing on anybody's rights to choose. Do I? Robert said exactly what I was going to say, but yes, I agree with everything that he's saying. We should give the women the right to choose in an instance of rape and molestation. So yes. Definitely, I agree with the other two candidates at the table that definitely we have to, especially as youth leaders, respect the rights of women to choose. And I think that there also has to be something else done, apart from respecting. We need to educate young women about the dangers of something like legal abortion because, as we know, if it's something that is not morally accepted in our society, some of them will find alternative means to do it, which might harm them and harm the child if the child is not aborted properly. So I think that we definitely need to engage in proper education as it relates to abortion in St. Lucia and the conversation really has to begin as to whether or not we go that, or our policymakers rather, go that right. But definitely, Team YTH is in support of women's right to choose. All right, awesome. We're going to take another break at this moment. You guys have been an awesome audience. I urge you to keep it quiet. You will have an opportunity to ask some questions later. So take a note of the questions that you wish to ask. So we move for a break at this point. How will we save it? Chemicals and GMOs are not the solution. Use organic and join. Excessive agrochemical use, additives and genetically modified foods are harmful to health and the environment. Join the Good Food Revolution. Grow, buy and consume organic. A message from Rye St. Lucia and the Ministry of Sustainable Development with funding from the GEF Small Grants program UNDP. Welcome back. We now move on to the floor. We are going to entertain questions from the floor. I want to urge you guys, this is a live show. Choose your words wisely. Let us do this with a sense of decorum. Let us avoid personal attacks and long commentaries before we pose our questions. So you will indicate by a show of hands. So the floor is open. Yes, go ahead. Okay, question. Over the past few years, there has been a silence. When it comes to Yopankana, these related issues, my question is why do you believe that there has been a silence from the NYC and what are your plans to break this silence? Thank you. Again, the reason why we have had this silence is because we have not had an NYC that believes in ensuring that we cater to the needs of all our young people. We have a case where we have a case where a particular member of this panel indicated to a young woman that because of her religion, he is not going to consider her for his team. Now, that already is discrimination. That already is marginalizing young people. We must not leave the Rastafarian community out of the discussions. The Rastafarian community has, has of course been marginalized. The issues that affect them, we have remained silent on it. With regards to the legalization of cannabis, I believe that the young people must, we must come together at the table and assess this matter properly. Because the truth of the matter is there are both pros and cons to the discussion. And it's not something that we are just going to jump into and see, because at the end of the day, it may very well have a greater effect on our healthcare system. If it is, if, if we increase, if young people rather, more young people are using, and it, you know, it's affecting their mental health, that may please issues on our healthcare. So it's, we have to make sure that when we do get into the discussion, it is an informed discussion so that we can make a decision on it. But I definitely believe that the time has come for us to not remain silent on this particular issue. First of all, Mr. Renny spoke about persons being victimized and what not, that he don't remain as exact with. But that exactly is defamation of character. Because Naya Salved never mentioned these words. He never mentioned these words, and we can take it up later. But as it relates to cannabis and advocacy for cannabis, the absence of somebody going out doesn't mean that you're not advocating. Because this NYC, I'm not going to say this NYC, but Naya Salved has engaged young enthusiasts who have an interest in cannabis and a cannabis advocacy. But the problem remains that it is still illegal. We are looking for, we are trying to put together steps in order to ensure that we legalize cannabis in St. Lucia or we decriminalize it rather. But at the end of the day, it is still illegal and posters may not necessarily feel comfortable in going out there and expressing themselves as cannabis users or advocates of cannabis. But we have started key conversations with persons in that movement. Key is one young man who was Mr. Renewes at the Booker Intruser was on the panel. He kind of tested the fact that these conversations have started and as soon as government puts the legislation in place to ensure that they're empowered to speak to these issues without fear of victimization and arrest by police, then we go ahead and then start the conversations. Mr. George, your opportunity to weigh. Thank you. I believe we need to start this with a conversation between our policymakers and our young leaders. First, before anything, we realize that it is illegal of course. So the conversation between policymakers and the youth leaders needs to happen before anything which is our first step. Thank you. We have another question from the floor. Thank you very much. I really love the fact that Junior was able to ask this question but I think Niaz, both Niaz and Mr. Renewes opened up for this. NYC's policies are dictated by the Youth and Sports Councils. So sometimes if an issue is not on the radar of the Youth and Sports Councils, at General Assembly, these are the issues that come up. If it does not come up, honestly speaking, it's very difficult sometimes to convince Youth and Sports Councils about the importance of the issues. My question is how do we now as a new executive, potential new executive, ensure that the critical issues that are affecting the nation end up on the agendas of the various Youth and Sports Councils because most of our Youth and Sports Councils are sports oriented and that's one of the biggest issues. Let's be realistic, your membership is not the unattached young people in San Jose, sadly. They don't vote for you. Although you have to serve them, but your votes come out of the Youth and Sports Councils. So you must be able to ensure that the Youth and Sports Councils are operating. What are the plans for this? And how do you ensure that the national issues end up on the agendas of those Youth and Sports Councils? Yeah, I'm happy you asked that question because earlier, I remember mentioning the fact that unlike Team YTH, we are not going to focus solely on sports. We will be focusing as well on youth development. And I also mentioned the fact that earlier that our first order of business when we are elected into the NYC is to ensure that the District Youth and Sports Councils are working because they are the catalysts for the change. They are the vehicles by which we will drive all these plans that we have. And if they are not working, then the plans will not get done. And so I believe we must set oversight committees. We must ensure that the oversight committees monitor the Youth and Sports Councils and their activities because too often the District Youth and Sports Councils will tell you during election they see the NYC. After election, they don't see the NYC. And as Mr. Alfred rightly said, seven people cannot do it. You must set committees in place to ensure that somebody is looking after these councils all throughout the year and engage them. I noticed that you had an activity planned for this particular date. Why isn't that activity? What is going on? We must continually engage Youth and Sports Councils. And I also said that our first order of business would be to go into the communities and meet with the young people. That is the first step. We have to go and meet the young people that we are catering to. Too often they have been left behind. Dwight? Again, this all starts with conversation, open conversation with the Youth and Sports Councils, District Councils, separating the sports from the youth issues. We tend to be focused more on sports as Rene said and ignore a lot of the issues. So at the General Assembly, those issues need to be brought forth. And even before that, a conversation needs to happen. Nice. Again, I have indicated that our policy is not driven by sports. And Mr. Rene keeps speaking about plans, but we're hearing very few of them. I must admit. But we are in agreement that the District Youth and Sports Councils, they need to have special attention and our job is not to monitor the District Youth and Sports Councils. Yes, they're within our preview, but our role as a national youth council is to engage the Youth and Sports Council. Yes, we need to know what's going on with them, but through engaging them and ensuring that when they have their activities that the NYC is present, that the NYC is actually taking a key role in actually ensuring that these things are brought forward. I think that we'll be in a better position to assess their needs and assess what they want. And our opening doors for opportunities program, while sports is what we use to bring them together, it is what we use in order to engage other young persons in aspects that will necessarily be involved in sports, but that's what we're going to use to engage them. And we've put in our action plan that there needs to be consultation as well with every single Youth and Sports Council within the first three months of the new NYC. And Mr. René might say that you've been there for the past two years of the NYC, you haven't done anything. The difference between the last two years and the next two years, Mr. René is the leadership. Naya Salved will be president. All right, we have another question from the floor. Good evening, everyone. Firstly, let me commend the three young men offering themselves to assume leadership. I actually have a question for each of the candidates. Mr. George, your question is, as Shalo mentioned earlier, you are the new face on the scene. How do you plan to mitigate against the issue of limited funding to execute NYC events? Robert, your question is, well, we've heard a lot about engagement from all the candidates. Could you elaborate a bit more on your strategy to ensure that the activities of the different communities, Youth and Sports Councils, realize a higher number of participants? Because sometimes they have very low turnout. And Naya, you are the only person here going up again, or a member on the current council. What mistakes have you made in your current tenure and how do you plan to fix them moving forward should you be elected as president? All right. Great questions. George, limited funding. How do you plan to tackle that? Naya's can answer that afterward, but not my question, but then what I'm about to see. The NYC now totally depend on the government funding. As an event planner, I believe that the NYC needs to start making their own money through fundraisers, events you can throw a gala, and that raised about 30,000 per gala, if you do that. Those events can fund the NYC and become to become undependable on the government. So I think that that should be done. Rene's strategy for engagement increasing participation. What are the plans? We had that issue in South Gastries. Young people were not coming out to our activities. And we realized the reason that they were not coming out, of course, is because there was a disconnect. They never used to hear about the South Gastries and Sports Council. So even if you post and you say, we're having a workshop, why would I come to a workshop, you know, planned by individuals who I don't know, not you, right? So what we started to do was we started to, we had a flagship program called Know Your Community, KYC, where we brought young people together from the community and we just had a social activity. Then the social activity could be a hike. The social activity could be a beach barbecue. The social activity could be a number of things. That way, you start to build connections, right? And what used to happen is when we started having all these social activities, young people used to be like, oh, wow, you know, there is a youth on Sports Council. How can I, how can I volunteer? And so we had a strong PR as well, who was always spreading the word on social media. So more people started to know about our activities and they started to be, to want to be a part of it, to want to be involved. And so I believe that we can definitely use more social, social activities. I also, I also believe that we can, this is my time up. Yes, I also believe that we can use the arts to draw young people, right? We have a lot of denry segment talent. We have a lot of, let's use that talent. Let's bring the young people because they like the arts. They like the music. So at some point, if we can't get their attention, we bring out some artists. They love the entertainment. And when the artists are here, when all of them have come to the activity, we let them know that, listen, we want to engage you, not just for entertainment, but we want to engage you on a more positive note. Thank you. Alfred, mistakes, lessons learned. Okay, first of all, I just want to respond quickly to Dwight. Yes, the NYC receives a subvention from the government, which is very limited. But through my direct resource mobilization efforts, the NYC has raised over $250,000 to supplement its programming over the past two years. So that's an answer to your question. And that is something that we hope to continue over the course of the next two years. The NYC has understood that there is limited funding. So we have decided that we were going to introduce a social enterprise underneath the National Youth Council to target directly that issue and to be able to fund our programs. And of course, we will implement an alumni association with all these followers of the NYC to help them bring resources together. So you shall all be on the alumni association where bring skills and talents together. But as it relates to your question, Yenver, the strength of any good leader is admitting where they fell short and proposing a plan to move it forward. And where I think that we fell short is in terms of our engagement on the ground with youth and sports councils. It did begin, it did start in the first year. We visited Mabuya and contrary to popular belief, we did make serious intervention in Chuzel as well. But that is something that I think that we need to take priority on and we need to ensure that on the grassroots level and our action plan speaks to it direct engagement of the youth and sports councils to ensure that we know what's going on with them. We know the problems that persist. And that is something on live television that I can assure that every single youth and sports council we will be engaged by the first three months. If I may, I do not believe, I do not believe that one man is responsible for all the issues of the NYC and this is something that this gentleman's team has continued to report that all the issues that the NYC has faced is as a result of the leadership, as he said. The truth of the matter is Mr. Alfred and his entire executive of the National Council must take collective responsibility for the issues, for the fact that they did not, you rightly said you raised 200 and something thousand dollars. How did that 200 and something thousand dollars filter down into programs into the communities? All right. We have three questions from Facebook. I'll go for each of them and one for each of you. Dwight, what will you do with regards to the dilapidated youth and sports council around the island? I think we've touched on that but Dwight has not gotten a chance to weigh in on this like he would like. Beyond abortion, we currently have a grave issue among young women with the rate of consumption of morning after pills. And how easily accessible it has become? Do any of the candidates have any plans as it relates to sexual and reproductive health for the said demographic? And how would they maximize digital media to raise awareness of this? And the third one, how can the NYC engage youth in the diaspora who are still actively engaged in St. Lucia? The ambassadors program could have been a good approach to engage St. Lucia youth both in and out of the island. So Dwight, Rene, Alfred, let's go. One of my ambitions in fact, the first ambition in my manifesto is to move rural youth forward and that is to bring forward, bring to light the youth and sports councils that have been unheard of and neglected. Especially those in the south, you tend to be, the participation has been lacked of and most of our events are centralized. So we need to decentralize the activities to gain participation from those youth and sports councils. Rene, abortion, morning after pills, digital media? Again, I am a full believer in the arts. I will be representing one of the individuals who's part of a contingent of young people going to represent St. Lucia at Cary Festa doing a play called A Little Folk Tale. I am very much a believer in the arts. I believe that we can also use drama, acting, vines. We can put, we can do public service announcements and promulgate it, highlighting these issues. I think it is time for us to use technology to bring these issues to the young people. I believe that's one of the ways we can do that. And again, I do not, I will not infringe on a woman's right to choose whatever she decides to do for body that is a decision for a woman to make. Niaz, you've been in the diaspora? I'm going to be 20 seconds just to lean into the previous question. The first vice president candidate on the YTH team has put together a brilliant plan called an I Am Woman campaign that basically seems to target exactly what you're speaking about. About engaging women who have been disenfranchised, women dealing with issues of abortion, women dealing with issues of depression. And I think that that is something, given the passion that she has, will definitely lead into something that is phenomenal for young women in St. Lucia. And as it relates to engaging youth in the diaspora, we did speak about the Youth Ambassadors Network International about tapping into the expertise of our young people who are abroad, but they cannot necessarily contribute. And that includes young people who are abroad and they are studying. Young people who probably could not find the opportunity here that they need to travel overseas to contribute. Young people who may not be born here, but they are solution by parentage. We realize the importance of every single young person who is St. Lucia in any way possible, and we need to engage them. So the Youth Ambassadors Network International will speak directly to that, and that is a program that will also be facilitated by our, hopefully, incoming Vice President, Ms. Edwin. So we'll take two more questions from the floor, and then we'll move in for closing remarks. Gabi Fauci, Sufra Youth and Sports Council. Question, which is how or what are the plans for the NYC to engage the Outer District? So for example, Sufra. Typical example is with the upcoming election, the only team that we saw was Nias and his team. And so we have been fortunate to come here. I have been fortunate to come here to represent the Sufra Youth and Sports Council and to see and hear the plans of the other persons. If you are to be elected, Mr. René, how are you able to incorporate not just the councils from the immediate area or from the city but from the Outer Districts to ensure firm participation at all the time through the period at which the NYC sits to represent them? Thank you. Thank you very much for that question. And of course Sufra is a district that is very dear to my heart. I recently attended the Caribbean Youth Conference and when I was engaging with some young people from Sufra, who of course lamented over the fact that Sufra had been neglected, too often the National Youth Council has not had programs in these Outer Districts. Our first order of business, as I rightly told you, is that we will be coming to the Youth and Sports Councils, all of them. We will be helping them ensure that the structure is properly delineated, that they know they have proper constitutions, they have a proper executive. And then we are going to continue to engage these Youth and Sports Councils all throughout the year. We are going to help you output programs in place. We are going to attend your programs. We are going to put workshops in place to train the executives as well because we want to empower the young people from Sufra to take on that particular mandate. And so I understand, like I said, and I appreciate the fact that you brought up Sufra and we will be coming to Sufra as though with all the other Youth and Sports Councils to ensure that the groundwork in Sufra is done. Mobilize the young people, bring them together, ensure that that voluntarism in Sufra is something that is, is, is, is voluntary, voluntarism in Sufra is something that young people are interested in doing. All right, we'll take our final question. I hope that was okay, everyone. I want to respond to it. Niaz wishes to respond too. Sufra is very dear to Mr. René's heart, yet Sufra has not seen him. Anything for a vote, right? Anything for a vote, right? But the NYC in the past has always been, and we cannot run away from it, a Castries Youth Council, or North Youth Council, Exhibit A. Most persons have tend to come from the north of the island as it relates to an NYC executive. The YTH team has made it their priority to ensure that every single young person in St. Lucia can hold accountable somebody on the executive. And that is why every single member of the seven member team is from a different district. We need to make sure that we hold our NYC executives accountable. And that is what not something that was, that was called for in the last two years. But that is something that I will say that the youth officials need to hold me accountable over the next two years. Because we've made it, I'm speaking Mr. René, we've made it a priority to ensure that every single young person in St. Lucia regardless of where you come from is represented on the National Youth Council because at the end of the day, it is the same Lucia National Youth Council. I'm not a politician, okay? I don't only visit youth and sports councils when it's election, okay? I am not. And so this, it took this gentleman, listen to me and listen to me well. It took this gentleman two years, okay, before he showed his face in his own constituency, Shoselle. Understand what I'm telling you? And hold on, hold on. Okay, yes, you said you made one effort, but the fact is not one effort, Mr. René. Listen, you and I, you and I both know Mr. Alfred, that Shoselle, you and I both know that Shoselle has been deficient over the last year and you have done nothing to help revive it. That is a fact and you admitted that you, you did not do what was necessary. I am not a politician. I am not going to come to you only when it's election time, okay? And the truth is, it took him two years to go down to these outer districts. And guess what happened? In two weeks, he me well. In two weeks, he has found the time to go and visit all the other youth and sports councils. I am not a politician. And at the end of the day, I am not going to pretend as though that now, since I want everybody's votes, we are going to Russia and see everybody. The truth is, we would have given, we will have an opportunity as well at the general council so that you can see my entire team and hear some of our plans because at the end of the day, we may not have the resources to go all around the island and we are not politicians, okay? I need to respond to that because Mr. René has been very dishonest and very honest. I am not a dishonest man. I am not a dishonest man. Because the NYC did make efforts to visit communities. Yes, I admit and I have been said that I accept some of the responsibility. Right, and just leave it there. At the end of the day, at the end of the day, the NYC did make efforts to go into these communities and it doesn't seem like Mr. René did much research on who's going up on his team because the current person who's going up for general secretary, I love her, she's my friend, but she's going up as the GS on your team. Yes. So are you removing yourself, accountability from yourself and your team? No, no, no. All right guys, let's, let's... My general secretary is the only person in Choselle, the only person and I must commend her that has been holding the fort with the Choselle Youth and Sports Council. And I would not say the only but, but at least one of the few young people who have been holding the fort with the Choselle Youth and Sports Council and I cannot say the same for you who had direct responsibility plus you had the resources being the vice president of the NYC. All right guys, we have five minutes, five minutes left. One more question and then close in remarks. Thank you, Mr. Shalor. Good evening everybody. Oh, we haven't... And you know it's, yeah, I'm the next question and I wanted to just stand up while this whole commission was going on because for some reason I stand very disappointed. Guys, I'm very excited that you took up this mantle to be the leaders of the next NYC. I'll remove my glasses just to make sure that I emphasize on this point and this question that I will ask. While I was sitting here, I was really supporting each and every one of you because I think it's a, it takes a really brave person to want to lead the next group of leaders. But the question that came that started to slap me in the face and it was daunting is that, you know, people started to refer to YTH and this group and whatever group. How will we work with the other persons if the entire YTH doesn't make it or if the entire stage does not make it? And in truth and in fact, I am with the stage team, you guys have seen me, but I have made myself available to be able to work with any team. Now the fact that Mr. Alfred would have made a comment about the person who sat in the position of public relations a couple of years ago wanting to go up again as the second vice president of the next team. I mean, we did not come here for that. As young people, we came here to hear what's going to happen. And then the next thing is this really sounded like something by the castries market because we started quarreling behind each other, both of us. I mean, if we had to see the manifesto, let us see before the whole thing started, let us go through the manifesto. And I'm proud of you that you have a hard copy of the manifesto. And sometimes what politicians do is that they have the hard copy, but I'll be going to action that thing out. And the next thing, it was very disappointing to see you are just quarreling behind each other. Now I'm so upset that I'm very sorry, Mr. Charlotte, that I'm being a bit, you know, upset and emotional, but it really touched me because that is the same thing that we don't want young people to see. We don't want young people to see us quarreling behind each other because after the election, we would hope that the three of you would be able to work together so that we could see this movement. We could see young people being the movers and shakers of this nation. So tonight I just had to stand up and say, will you guys be able to work if YTH or if STAGE does not make it? Would you be able to work with the other members who have put themselves up to lead the NYC? Right? I would like you to answer this question. Thank you. I think we have a good final question. We have a good final question. Okay, let me, if I may, if I may. If I may, and I thank Ms. McPhee for that question. In my capacity as a trustee to the NYC, this gentleman, I had to work closely with him. He was on my committee for the, for a particular event that I wanted to have called the Big Hit. The first coming, the outgoing treasurer, she's also, she was also a member of the executive and I had to work closely with her as well. They can both attest that I had, I never had any issues working with either of them. Even before the campaign started, I indicated to them and they self-indicated to me that if per adventure I lose, that they would want me to work on committees. And I said, yes, gladly, I will do so. I have no problems with doing so. But what I don't want us to lose sight of is that that happened last year. That very situation happened last year where a young man did not, a young man did from another team, won a particular post. And I can, and if you have conversations with individuals close to the situation, they will tell you that this gentleman and other people, Time is up. It's very difficult for this young man to be on their team. One more minute, so each of you have 30 seconds. Dwight. In closing, I would just like to leave a quote from my greatest inspiration, which is, action without vision is passing time. Vision without action is merely daydreaming. But vision with action can change the world. And that is by Nelson Mandela. And my vision with action will change the NYC for good. I thank you. Unlike my closing arguments to respond to Gina, I do admit that this conversation could have ended a lot better. Mr. Renic came in and he said, you know, take it easy on me. And then he went into attack mode. But at the end of the day, our job as young people, as young people, we have one, as young people, we have one agenda. And that is to work towards the development of young people. And I have a relationship with most of the members of the opposite team. Josiah can attest to that. Joshua can attest to that. I don't know Michael very long, but I have no issues with Michael. Or if you Gina, I don't know Melvin very well. But at the end of the day, our key, the thing that we need to accomplish is the development of young people. And I think that as youth, we need to be able to work together. And we've put together an action plan that seeks to engage every single young person. Regardless of whether or not you stage or why teach, we have one agenda. And that's youth. And we need to stick to that. I totally agree with that. 40 seconds, Renic. Right, I totally agree with that. Yes, individual started through in jobs at me and saying, I have no solutions. And I believe that from the beginning, when I started speaking, I started telling you all the solutions that we have, we're going to take them. First of all, we're going to establish the Youth and Sports Council. We said that that would have been our first mandate. That's a solution. I want to also speak to some of the solutions to tackle things like recidivism. Okay, we indicated that, well, we want to establish a program whereby all young persons who live, prison and rule in a reintegration and rehabilitation program. And that has to be championed by the NYC. That's a solution. We want to ensure better security measures are in place even in our schools. We have a proliferation of guns coming out into the streets. We must get to a point where our schools are secure. That's a solution. Whether it be that we implement the metal detectors in the schools so that at the end of the day, young persons who are coming into the school does not come to school and end up in a war zone. So I do believe that I will work with any individual who wins. That is a fact. I have proven that I can work with everybody. All right, so I think we've ended on a good note with our candidates pledging to support whichever candidate that wins. And we hope that you guys don't disappear after the elections. When you get defeated, there are lots of committees that we need to work on. So we've come to the end of the show. It's been fiery. It's been exciting. You've had candidates challenging each other. I hope we can continue to do this. I don't know if NTN would be willing to continue these national dialogues, but I think it's a wonderful platform to get out and use issues, to explore them, and to really delve in a little deeper into the issues that affect you. I want to wish you guys all the best in the upcoming election. I think NYC will do well with any of you guys at the helm. So thank you and good night.