The antics we see in the House of Commons and provincial legislatures may not improve much if some students currently in grades 5 and 6 at Deer Meadow School are eventually elected to political office.
Teachers Nathalie Manuel and Miranda Wall – along with four parent volunteers – took 33 grade 5 and 6 students on a tour of the Alberta legislature in Edmonton March 30.
What did they love the most?
The opportunity to thump on desks and shout their opponents down during a mock legislative session – just like federal and provincial politicians do.
“They loved doing it, because whenever someone made a good point, they'd get to thump the tables. So everyone on their side, they'd get to thump the tables and every time they'd take a vote they'd either get to say, ‘all those in favour say yes' or ‘say no,”' Manuel said during an interview with the Albertan.
“They get to shout at each other, because whoever is the loudest, that's the side that wins.”
Manuel was asked, “they liked the yelling and screaming?”
“Yeah,” she replied.
The mock legislature was part of an approximately three-hour tour of the legislature and its surrounding grounds.
Although students visited the actual legislative chamber where bills are introduced and debates take place, their mock legislature was not held there. It took place in a nearby building outfitted for that purpose – complete with a speaker's chair.
“Each student in Grade 6 had a role to play and they had lines. So they make a script, based on a pretend law that they'd like to pass, from bill to law,” Manuel said.
“Then they go through the process of first reading, second, third, committee of the whole, and getting royal assent.”
The mock legislature lasted about an hour.
For the remainder of the trip, students explored the legislature building and grounds and took photos.
They got their photo taken with Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Don MacIntyre.
Manuel said the group had anticipated having their picture taken with Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper, who is also the Wildrose Party's house leader. Unfortunately, Manuel said, Cooper was unavailable for a photo at that point.
Manuel says this was not only the first visit to the legislature for most – if not all – of the students, it was also her first tour of the place.
She was impressed.
“I loved the building with all of the fancy marble and stonework; just the opulence of it,” she said.
She also liked one particular feature.
“We did the magic spot where you stand in a particular place, and because of the acoustics in the building, it sounds like you're inside the water fountain. But you're not – you're two floors up,” she said.
"They get to shout at each other, because whoever is the loudest, that's the side that wins."NATHALIE MANUELTEACHER DEER MEADOW SCHOOL
