Prime Minister Sits on Town of Lac du Bonnet Council

By: Colleen Johnson

Although the Municipal Act allows for each municipal council to appoint a Youth Member, only a handful of Manitoba’s nearly 200 municipal authorities have done so. One that has done so for the past four years is the Town of Lac du Bonnet.

On October 13, 2005, Markie Towers, the Prime Minister of Lac du Bonnet Senior School was sworn is as a Youth Member on the Town of Lac du Bonnet’s council. Yes, that’s right; the school has a prime minister. The student council is much like other student councils, but it is set up to reflect the parliamentary system. They have, besides a prime minister, a speaker of the house, and cabinet ministers responsible for various aspects of student affairs.

“I think it is important to have a Youth Member,” says Markie about her seat on the town council, “because it gives them an idea of what is important to students.”

Mayor Paul Chapman agrees. “Youth Members play an active role within their school and they bring forth questions, comments and requests.” The town’s skateboard park and youth centre are two facilities which have resulted from input from youth. Even though the Youth Member has no vote, they still have a positive impact, thanks to councilors who are willing to listen to the youth voice.

“I wanted to be more involved in the community,” Markie explains, and what better way than to have a voice on council? “I believe that my voice will be heard,” Markie commented shortly after her swearing in, “because I believe that they care about what is important to teenagers and students.”

“It provides a link between the generations,” says Mayor Chapman, confirming Markie’s sentiment.

The bottom line is that youth are members of the community, and even though they can’t vote until they are eighteen, they do have needs, and they do have good ideas, and they deserve to have a voice in their government.