While listening in on those long speeches regarding specific bills, I was amazed at how often the speaker will refer to letters sent by people and specific situations regarding a group of people or even one individual in their riding. I saw that getting involved does make a difference. Before applying to the page program, I admit that I didn’t know all that much about parliamentary affairs. If something shocking happened, I might have heard about it, otherwise, the government was just some abstract institution run by politicians who didn’t care about the “little people.” I realized something by actually watching proceedings in the House of Commons: politicians rely on every citizen of voting age for their jobs; without our votes they cannot represent us. But even more importantly, they need our voice to highlight key issues and generate debate. If you are truly passionate about improving something, your member of Parliament can communicate that, setting in motion actual change at the federal level.

This experience changed the way that I see the Canadian government entirely: for one thing, I do see the importance of it now. In politics new things are always happening, and these things actually affect your life. People often complain about conditions: taxes are too high or too low, there aren’t enough social programs or there are too many, why did we send troops to Afghanistan? But how much do most of the general public actually know about their country and their government, other than what they see in the headlines? Working as a page taught me how important it is to know how your government works and what it is doing. Our democratic system is set up so that citizens can have a say in how they are governed. It’s a voice we too seldom use.