MPPs Ted Arnott and Steve Peters came to Centre Wellington District High School on Oct. 2 – to tell students what it is they do.
Arnott is no stranger to the area, representing the Wellington Halton Hills riding. His son, Jack, is in grade 9, but Arnott and Peters were speaking to the grade 10 civics and history classes.
Peters is the MPP for Elgin Middlesex London. He told students that as speaker, he had to set aside his Liberal affiliation to, in effect, become referee for the Ontario legislature.
“Ted and I have worked very closely,” he said of Arnott. He noted that his colleague had been deputy-speaker for a time, and, “I really enjoyed working with Ted.”
Arnott gave the students a brief synopsis of his job in representing the riding and working for his party.
Peters did the same, and noted that it is not only important to understand democracy, but also to take part in its process.
He added that politicians are not to be placed on a pedestal, and that he believes there are roles for everyone in society to take part in the process.
Peters said in an interview that he got the idea of travelling to local high schools from the speaker of the legislature in Nova Scotia. He said he sent letters to all MPPs, volunteering to come to high schools to speak and take questions from students, and Arnott was among those who responded. He noted he was scheduled to visit another school, this one in Halton Hills, sometime this week. Arnott arranged for that visit, too.
Teacher Glenn McGinnis said students were being encouraged to hear what Arnott and Stevens had to say, and to question them. He noted there are several issues in provincial government that could affect students, such as discussions about raising the age of the driver’s licence to 18 from the current 16.
Other students, he said, own pit bulls, and are anxious about them. Ontario has banned the breeding of pit bulls.
