Thursday, March 14, 2019 ~ COLWOOD
~ by Mary P Brooke, West Shore Voice News
The children at Wishart Elementary School in Colwood were treated to a visit from Premier John Horgan and Mitzi Dean, MLA today. It started with Horgan shooting a few hoops on the basketball court outside at school recess.
Then the two west shore area elected officials kicked off a school-wide assembly about literacy at 10:40 am, followed by an in-depth question-and-answer with Grade 5’s in their upstairs classroom.
To the full audience of children from Kindergarten to Grade 5, Premier Horgan started off with the ‘wow factor’. He told the kids that there are 500,000 books in the legislative library, including two comic books!
Horgan explained how important reading is in his job. Of the many piles of paper that cross his desk that “give him information”, from that his job is to make choices. Emphasizing literacy, he said that the “writing with words” (the words he reads in documents and reports) contributes to his decision making. It’s very important “how those words convey the consequences of the actions, and the decisions that I make”, Premier Horgan explained to the eager and excited crowd of kids.
Dean explained how she is the MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin which also includes Colwood and View Royal, and that she is also the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity. She broadly hinted that she would be mentioning this day’s experience at Wishart School very soon in the BC Legislative Assembly.
On his way to the Grade 5 classroom a few minutes later, the Premier told West Shore Voice News that speaking to an audience of elementary school children over such a wide age range was tough! He was pleasantly surprised that they understood the concept of consequences.
Horgan also busied himself there in the classroom, sketching out a flow chart of various levels of government on the whiteboard– including provincial and federal — and where his job and his gender-equity cabinet fits into it all.
“What made you choose politics?”, asked one student. Premier Horgan reiterated his story about being inspired by the CCF Leader Tommy Douglas who in the 1960s created the medicare system in Canada. As for the circumstances that led him to being premier, he summarized: “Life happens.”
Mitzi Dean outlined the way that women get into politics — that often it takes up almost 10 times to be asked, before a woman will say yes. In summary: ‘Guys, they just do it’.
Horgan and Dean were asked how much they get paid. Their salaries information is publicly available online, said Dean. She explained that additional roles (such as being in cabinet) result in more pay. Horgan said some of his senior staff make a lot more money than he does. “Don’t go into politics to get rich,” said Horgan.
And are they doing their dream jobs? “I love my job,” said Dean. Horgan is doing his dream job, for sure. If he hadn’t ended up as premier, he says his preferences would have been to play basketball in the NBA or be a comedian.
Wrapping up, each student had their photo taken individually with the day’s two special guests. Then there was an autograph session, clearly enjoyed by all.
Other classrooms enjoyed special visits as well. SD62 Trustee Wendy Hobbs read to students in a Kindergarten/Grade 1 class. Another classroom was visited by an RCMP officer and with his trained police dog.
~ MPB, Editor