CORNWALL, Ontario – Students of Rob Butler’s grade 10 Civics class at Holy Trinity got a chance to see what municipal council is all about.
They elected a council of their own, appointed administration officials and took over the City of Cornwall Council Chambers on Wednesday, June 7 for a mock council meeting.
Councillor Maurice Dupelle, who sits on the Cornwall Youth Advisory Committe and who’s son is in the class helped make the field trip happen and City of Cornwall Clerk Manon Levesque organized and led the students through much of the meeting.
The students ran through a full mock council meeting from the moment of silence to the motion to adjourn.
Levesque prepared the agenda for the council which included real-life decisions from past council meetings so that the students got as close a feel to the real thing as possible.
Butler praised the efforts of the school and the students that made this exercise possible.
“This happened very quickly and I appreciate the efforts of the school to get this done,” he said. “I was encouraged by the participation and effort by everyone involved.”
Maurice Dupelle expressed his hope that this was the first of such exercises.
“We need to reach out to more schools and more youths,” he said.
Councillor Carilyne Hébert, the youngest member of City Council, gave her advice to the youth gathered in the chamber.
“I think something like this should be mandatory in all Civics classes,” she said. “Anyone over the age of 18 should throw their hat in the ring, especially women.”
