Sunday, February 10, 2013

Discovery.


I am going to begin serving my term of duty next week, February 19th. But I didn't only hear about the program now, oh no. 

I first learned about the page program in August 2010; it was the summer between my grade 6 and grade 7 year. My cousin was visiting from abroad, and my mother took my sister, my cousin and me to visit Queen’s Park, the Ontario Parliament. We got a tour of the building, and learned several interesting things (The West Branch is one floor taller than the East Branch!). On the tour, we were taken to a special room that was built to look like the Legislative Chamber, only much smaller. There, our tour guide explained to us about the different people who work in the Chamber and what they do: The Speaker of the House, who “presides over proceedings in the Assembly... enforces and interprets the rules of the house, decides what matters of order, delivers rulings, and maintains order and decorum.” (Legislative Page Program Study Materials, Roles, pg 3); The Clerk(s), who is in charge of the Parliament and how it runs; and Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs), who represent each riding in Ontario. The tour guide told us about each of these jobs and pointed out their spot in the room. Then, she pointed at the stairs below the Speaker, otherwise known as the Dias.

“This is where the Legislative Pages sit. Legislative Pages are students in Ontario who are in seventh or eighth grade. They need to be very good as school, with an average of at least 80% or higher; they also need to have good teamwork skills. Pages carry documents between the MPPs and the Speaker, and deliver water to the members.” the tour guide explains, before moving on in her speech. While the tour guide was talking about the Pages, I turned to smile at my mother, who was raising her eyebrows at me from across the room. We both knew that this program was calling my name. 

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