Local Student Lands Coveted Page Position at Queen's Park

Local Student Lands Coveted Page Position at Queen's Park
Posted on 02/14/2020
A local Grade 7 student is preparing for an opportunity of a lifetime after being selected to serve as a legislative page at Queen's Park.

Nathan Crank, who currently attends St. Monica's Catholic School in Barrie, will begin his term of duty on February 18th as a Legislative Page at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Toronto.  During his term of duty, Nathan will serve as a messenger on the floor of the Legislative Chamber, meet key parliamentary figures and learn first-hand about Ontario's parliamentary system of government.

According to the Ontario government website, the legislative page program is designed for outgoing, high-achieving, community-involved students who have demonstrated responsibility and leadership. Each year approximately 150 young students from across Ontario are selected to participate in Ontario's Legislative Page Program. This unique educational experience for Ontario students in grades 7 or 8 provides an opportunity to experience the provincial legislature in action and forge new lifelong friendships with peers from all over province. The program receives hundreds of applications for each round of selections. The positions are distributed between boys and girls who live throughout the 124 ridings represented in the legislature.  

Nathan earned a coveted spot in the program by submitting an application that included an essay outlining his achievements, involvements and suitability for the program. Nathan's essay highlighted his involvement with various volunteer and social justice initiatives, as well as his academic achievements over the years. Since being accepted into the program, Nathan has been busy learning the faces, names, party affiliations and locations of the 124 MPPs, as well as the names and roles of all the cabinet ministers before arriving at Queen’s Park for his first day.  
While the experience is sure to be an exciting educational opportunity, it also comes with some hard work and long days.  During a typical day in the program, Nathan will arrive at Queen’s Park by 8 a.m., dress in uniform and then prepare the legislative chamber for the morning’s debates. As the day progresses, pages are involved in a number of activities including: delivering messages for the MPPs in chamber, taking classes in the legislative process and mathematics, and meeting with key legislative players such as the party leaders and the Speaker of the house. A typical day for the pages will end at 6 p.m.

"I'm excited to learn more about how government functions," says Nathan. "It will be a lot of work, but it will be a once in a lifetime experience!"

The Legislative Page Program is open to students in grades 7 and 8 who have an interest in current affairs, have an academic average of 80% or higher and get along well with their peers and adults. For additional information regarding the Legislative Page’s involvement in this program, contact the Legislative Page Program at 416-325-7457 or at [email protected]