Students get first-hand look at government
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jan 22/01) - The average age of the Northwest Territories legislators dropped by 30 years last week and the assembly's mohawk haircut barrier was finally broken.
The occasion was the convening of the NWT's second youth parliament. Grade 9 and 10 students, one from each riding, travelled to the capital to get a first-hand look at the way government works.
"It's been really really busy," said Hay River South representative Sahra King.
"You've just got to keep going and going and going. Every time I talked to (Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen) she was always shuffling papers and looking at different things."
An event-filled week began Monday when students began arriving in Yellowknife. For students from communities, the event was as much about experiencing the sights and sounds of Yellowknife as learning about parliamentary tradition and governance in the NWT.
Nahende representative Malerie Hardisty reserved judgement when asked Thursday what the most memorable part of the week had been for her.
"We can't say that yet because we're going to a really good movie tonight -- Vertical Limit," Hardisty explained.
Despite the distractions, the focus of the week was the business of governing. Which means meetings, meetings and more meetings.
Cabinet and regular MLAs met separately each morning to discuss the political process, parliamentary tradition, consensus government and the issues of importance to the North.
Afternoons they met with their respective MLAs or their staff to get briefed on the lay of the land and got a feel for the way things work during legislative sessions.
The week was organized and sponsored by the legislative assembly. Sergeant-at-Arms Nicole Latour-Theede served as a chaperon during the week and Speaker Tony Whitford filled glasses and delivered notes during the session.
Mackenzie-Delta representative Nenah Francis admitted her first time in the legislative assembly was a little intimidating at first.
"I just felt so much pressure sitting there, with all these eyes on me," Francis said of the formal session that the week built toward.
Alicia Harry of Inuvik said her fondest memory of the week was, "meeting my MLA (Roger Allen) and him letting me sit at his desk and talking on his phone."
The most striking representative was Hay River North's Clinton Debogorski, who stopped in at New Beginnings to get a mohawk haircut the day before the big day.
"It cost $20, $10 a side, I guess," said Debogorski. "I was going to get it dyed but it cost way too much."
Describing himself as "basically" an anarchist, Debogorski said the Youth Parliament experience did little to change his political leaning.
"It's good to learn about stuff you don't necessarily agree with," he said.
