A reunion of former legislative pages will be held as part of the ongoing celebrations to mark the 160th anniversary of the achievement of Responsible Government in Prince Edward Island, says the Hon. Kathleen Casey, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.
For more than forty years, high school students from across Prince Edward Island have participated in the legislative page program at the province’s Legislative Assembly. To help commemorate this long running program, a reunion for all former pages is being hosted by Speaker Casey on August 18, 2011, at Province House in Charlottetown.
Prince Edward Island’s first legislative pages were appointed in 1964 and included William Richard, Michael Brown, Anthony Morley and Kent Martin. Eight years later, in 1972, Janice Clarkson and Brenda MacQuarrie, then students at Montague Regional High School, became the first two females appointed. Since its inception, a total of 277 high school students have participated in the program, selected by their respective schools on the basis of high academic standards and extra-curricular achievements.
Over the years, the uniforms have changed, but the duties of the legislative pages are largely the same as when the program began. Pages are instrumental in supporting the Legislative Assembly’s proceedings by distributing documents, delivering messages and notes, making photocopies, and providing other assistance as needed to the Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Table Officers. For nearly five decades, they have witnessed firsthand the unfolding of the province’s history, listening to the proceedings of question period, debates on proposed legislation and the scrutiny of the government’s budgetary plans.
The reunion on August 18 is an opportunity to thank all former pages for their contributions to the legislative process and will provide an opportunity for them to reconnect with one another and to reminisce about their experiences.
If you have served as a legislative page or know someone who has, please call (902) 368-5972 or email assembly@assembly.pe.ca for more details and to register for the event. Additional information, including photos, discussions, a video and more, can be found on the Legislative Page Reunion Facebook page at www.facebook.com/peipagereunion.