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| Page Maja |
"ORDER!"
First, I would like to start by saying that although my most common
explanation of the program I was doing was "I deliver water, papers and
messages to MPP's" or " I work as a butler at the Parliament”, I have
come to the realization that the Legislative Page Program is much more than
that! And: no, I did not go to the Parliament in Ottawa. Along with 22
other grade 8 students I was chosen to serve for four weeks as a Page in our
Provincial Parliament, Queen's Park.
The Pages have been an incredibly important part of Ontario's
Parliament since the confederation. These early Pages were 10 to 14 years-old
boys from poor families who, for salary, carried messages, ran errands, and
fetched glasses of water for Members of Provincial Parliament. Since 1952 a
teacher was hired to work with the Pages, and in 1971 first girls were
appointed to serve. In the same year Speaker Fred Cass moved the Pages to Page
Quarters: an office that included a miniature schoolroom, recreational area,
lounge, and kitchen. He also established the practice of choosing Pages from
across Ontario, and began the tradition of reading the Pages’ names into
Hansard (traditional name of the records of the Parliamentary Debates), which
created an official record of their service.
Nowadays serving in the Parliament is a privilege. Each year, approximately 140 grade 7 and 8
students from across Ontario are selected to participate in the Legislative
Page Program. When applying, you are required to have a minimum level 4
average, to write a 750 word essay on what you have done to deserve to serve as
a Page, and have a recommendation letter from your Principal.
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| The best Page group ever: FA14-2 NOV17-DEC11 |
Legislative Pages experience the provincial legislature in
action, meet key parliamentary and political figures, and learn first-hand
about Ontario’s Parliament and legislative process. My typical day during
last month looked like this:
Each day, I would wake up at 5:30am get ready and take the subway
down to Queen's Park at around 6:45am with another girl, Page Kelsey from Ottawa.
We would get to the Parliament and our quarters through the tunnel between the
subway station and the Queens Park around 7:30am. We would get into our
uniforms which consisted of a white stiff-collared dress-shirt, a black vest
and blazer, black pants, black socks, a black silver buckled belt, black jabots
for girls and black ties for boys and finally, black dress shoes. At 8:15, we
would have morning briefing. Basically in briefings we would discuss
our schedule, check uniforms and ask any questions that we might have.
After that we would go up to the Chamber, for our Chamber Duties.
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| Page Captains with the Sergeant-At-Arms and the Mace |
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| The Procession on the last day before the House went on break |
Most of the times at 9:00am "ORDER!" is called and the Sergeant-At-Arms with the Mace, the Speaker, the Clerks and the Page Captains enter the Chamber. The Speaker then reads a non-denominational prayer. This is followed by Orders Of The Day when laws and other government activities are discussed. At this time, half of the Pages go to Legislative Process class, while the other half stays in the Chamber. When Question Period is called, Members may ask other Members about any recent activity in their ridings and Ministries. Although this all sounds very complicated, once you get a hang of it, it is very entertaining to watch. The thing that worried me the most was how will I remember all the 107 Members, but after only a few days I new them all including the ridings they are representing. I also learned about all the Ministers and the Ministries they are responsible for.
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| Our classroom in the Page Quarters |
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| Our Rec room |
After lunch, we have our Afternoon Briefing, followed again by Chamber Duties.
Then, Routine Proceedings - at this time, most drafts of laws
are presented. Next, Orders Of The Day is called again. Half
of the group goes to math class until 4:30 (first dismissal), while the
other half stays in the Chamber until 6:00 (second dismissal). To make things
even more exciting, Ms. Tedford, our Page Teacher organized for us to meet
with all the party leaders, the Clerks, the Speaker, the Hon.
Lieutenant Governor, the Sergeant-At-Arms and even the Premier! Each Page
also got the opportunity to have a one-on-one lunch with their MPP.
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In the office of the
Clerk of the Legislative Assembly
Deborah Deller
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Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Elizabeth Dowdeswell
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| Meeting the leader of NDP Andrea Horvath |
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| With the Speaker Hon. Dave Levac |
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| With our Premier Hon.Kathleen Wynne |
Although the whole thing flew by extremely fast, I must admit that
the first week was the hardest…When I found out what had happened to my best
friend, everything just slowed down for me. She was constantly in my thoughts!
I walked to the hospital and visited Olga almost every day. Olga is much, much
better now, yet we still NEED to keep thinking of her and visiting her, as she
is going through an incredibly difficult time right now!
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| HAPPY: my first visit after Olga woke up |
The past four weeks were the best in my life! I made lifelong
friendships and I am sure we are going to remain in contact throughout our lives! All of the MPPs, Clerks, the Speaker, the Sergeant-At-Arms and the constables were just so nice and supportive of us, Pages! And yes, as it is a paid service, I have made $15 a day!! I have decided that
there are others that need the money more then I do, so half of what I earned I
have donated to S.O.S. Children’s Village, an orphanage in Serbia and the other half I happily gave
to Complex Care Clinic of SickKids (As you know I am a singer. Our holiday concert this year is being used as a fundraiser for the Complex Care Clinic at SickKids, and so far I have raised over $1000!)
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| Ripley's Aquarium: first Friday field trip!! |
