A 12-year-old boy delivered a moving call to action at city hall on Tuesday, asking politicians to help end poverty in Toronto.
“If you were in the shoes of someone who is poor, wouldn’t you want someone to stand up for you?” Ephraim Hildebrand asked city councillors. “If we see injustice happen and do nothing about it, we’ve become part of the problem.”
Hildebrand is part of Millennium Kids, an international organization that aims to get children involved in reaching the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. One of the UN’s goals—and Hildebrand’s hope for Toronto— is to cut poverty in half by 2030.
“I know our city has put in tremendous efforts to reduce poverty,” he said. “Please don’t give up. You are leading Toronto on an important journey to justice and we can do this together.”
Hildebrand was applauded by city councillors and Toronto Mayor John Tory, who lauded the boy for having the “interest and the courage to come forward.”
The boy said his mother, a social justice advocate, inspired him to join the cause.
Tory said the boy should run for public office when he is of age.
