Students turn Sask. Legislature into mock parliament with one twist

REGINA – Politicians may be off for the holidays but the Saskatchewan Legislature was abuzz with action over the weekend.

In fact, a different group of politicians were hard at work, they just happened to be a little bit younger.

“While I’m speaker of the house I have to be impartial,” said Jacqueline Sirois, a Grade 12 bilingual student.

While they may not be your actual MPs they were sure acting and sounding like it.

“For this Parliament I got kicked out yesterday because I said a really inappropriate word in parliament. I called the opposition stupid,” quipped Jolanta Bird, the acting Prime Minister.

Inside the legislature students participated in handing out motions, debating laws and went through a question period; all of it done in French.

“It’s not only about protecting our language, it’s about living it,” said Shawn Jobin, the organizer who works with the French Youth Association.

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Forty one bilinguals, mostly students from across Saskatchewan came together in Regina to participate in the francophone youth parliament.

“It creates a space where they can socialize in French, debate in French and practice basically and make connections,” explained Jobin.

“It’s important to remember our roots and to make sure that our language isn’t forgotten,” added Bird.

The francophone youth parliament is an annual tradition that’s been happening for over 20 years and continues to evolve.

In the caucus room, students also learned the role the media plays and got a firsthand lesson from Global Saskatoon’s Carly Robinson.

“I straight up told them they should be asking the ministers the really hard questions, sending that on Twitter and everywhere. The media is really important in holding governments accountable,” said Robinson, who was the journalism facilitator for the event.

It’s an innovative real life lesson, even though it’s only played out students are not forgetting who they are, especially the acting Prime Minister.

“I adore being able to speak French and hopefully I’ll never forget this language,” said Bird.