Speaker visits local high schools

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/05/2014 (4180 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons, was in Winnipeg recently to launch a national initiative that will reach out and engage young people to help them enhance their political awareness.

Speaker Scheer included MPs from all official parties in the House of Commons in his outreach work.

Speaker Scheer joined me on visits to Kelvin High School and St. Maurice School as part of this joint parliamentary outreach initiative. I also had a great visit that day with the Grade 9 students at St. Paul’s High School and was very impressed by their thoughtful questions.

Through this initiative, the speaker and Members of Parliament had the chance to speak with 14 different schools in Winnipeg and reach well over 1,000 students.

We talked about the work done by parliamentarians, the importance of civic engagement for all ages, and answered questions from students about our parliamentary system.

It was great to see the level of engagement of our intelligent student body. I was particularly taken with the students who had such insight into some of the issues we face as a country. At one of the schools, questions kept building on previous ones which really led to a meaningful discussion.

The speaker’s visit also included an evening reception to recognize the accomplishments of teachers, volunteers and local leaders in advancing civic education and promoting civic participation. Our parliamentarians were also joined by representatives of the national organizations Samara and CIVIX, as well as parliamentary librarian Sonia L’Heureux and representatives of the Library of Parliament, who were on hand to provide community leaders and educators with additional tools and resources to assist in their work throughout the community.

CIVIX is a national, charitable organization and its mission is to grow young Canadians into engaged committed and active citizens. Samara is a non-partisan charitable organization that works to improve political participation in Canada.

The evening also raised money for Lunches With Love, a Winnipeg organization started by Nathan Unrau when he was 12 years old, that serves bagged lunches to the city’s homeless.