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Local boy served as page in Queen’s Park

by Anita Locke

Jordan Pind has just returned from an exciting experience as a Legislative Page in the Ontario Legislature.

Jordan is the son of Angela and David Pind. His maternal grandparents are Jim and Loretta Marsden of Lakefield; his paternal grandmother is Pam Pind. He has a brother, Jackson, and sister, Caroline.

Legislative Pages are Grade 7 and Grade 8 students who work in the Legislative Chamber of the Provincial Parliament in Toronto.

They serve a Term of Duty of up to six weeks and are granted a leave of absence from school during that time.

Pages participate in the legislative process, act as messengers in the Legislative Chamber, meet with politicians and officials, learn how laws are made and how the Province of Ontario is governed.

The students are chosen based on their interest in current affairs. They must have an academic average of 80 per cent or higher, and get along well with their peers and adults.

Jordan, a Grade 7 student at James Strath Public School in Peterborough, applied for the position, along with about 500 other young people. Of that number, about 80 students were ultimately chosen for the role.

James spent four weeks (one session) at Queen’s Park beginning February 12. He was joined by 19 other students from across the province.

There are four sessions this year, with each group having approximately 20 students.

During his term of duty, he served as a messenger on the floor of the Legislative Chamber, met key parliamentary figures and learned about Ontario’s parliamentary system of government.

He earned the spot in the program by submitting an application that included an essay, in which he outlined his achievements, involvements and suitability for the program.

Prior to beginning his term at Queen’s Park, he had to memorize the faces, names and locations of the 107 MPPs.

A typical day includes arriving at Queen’s Park at approximately 8:00 a.m., dressing in uniform and preparing the Legislative Chamber for the morning’s debates.

Throughout the day, Pages are involved in a number of activities including delivering messages and water for the MPPs in the Chamber, taking classes in Legislative Process and Mathematics, and meeting with key legislative players such as the party leaders and Speaker of the House.

Besides his regular Legislative Page duties, Jordan also had lunch with Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal, the Speaker and the Clerk.

When not in school or enjoying leisure activities, Jordan volunteers with the OFAH (where his father works), as a Kindergarten helper and sits on his school’s Student Council and other clubs.

As for the future, Jordan is thinking about pursuing a career in politics, or becoming a lawyer.

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