Universities'
Model
Parliament
-An
experience
of
a
lifetime!
;.
?
By
Valentine
Crawford
-
.
,
On
January
4,
2007
at
6:00pm
I
walked
into
the
back
hallways
of
the
BC
Provincial
Legislature
where
I
was
getting
ready
to
enter
the
house
as
Hon.
Valentine
Crawford,
P.C.
President
of
the
Treasury
Board.
As
I
entered
the
house,
on
the
Government
side,
I
felt
a
rush
of
excitement
and
aw,
I
was
actually
in
the
House.
After
taking
my
seat,
that
is
when
it
hit,
good
old
fear.
I
mean
I
was
terrified,
what
if
I
said
something
that
sounded
stupid
during
question
period,
what
if
I
suddenly
lost
my
voice,
what
it,
what
if,
what
if,
that's
all
that
ran
through
my
head.
Now
even
though
it
was
a
mock
session
of
a
Federal
Parliament,
I
left
so
privileged
and
horned
to
actually
be
doing
this
aside
from
the
initial
feeling
of
terror.
Started
33
years
ago
(1975)
Universities'
Model
Parliament
(UMP)
an
organization
of
youth
and
young
adults
who
encourage
students
from
across
Canada
to
participate
in
parliamentary
procedure,
in
particular
the
House
of
Commons
get
together
for
a
weekend
of
debate,
hard
work
and
good
fun.
A.
This
was
my
first
year
attending
UMP,
and
I
must
say
I
am
honored
to
have
had
this
-'
experience
as
to
say
I
got
to
feel
what
its
like
to
actually
sit
as
government,
and
trust
me
it
-is
a
very
big
difference
from
all
the
other
volunteer
board
of
directors
and
committee
work
I
have
done
in
my
life.
For
me
it
wasn't
about
partisan
politics,
its
about
learning
and
experiencing
how
our
democratic
system
in
Ottawa
works
and
to
really
become
part
of
the
process
for
decision
making
when
it
comes
to
law
and
federal
finances.
Now
I
will
admit
that
this
was
only
a
four-day
session
so
everything
was
condensed,
but
still
fun.
Examples
of
what
the
weekend
included
was
the
usual
Call
to
Order,
Opening
Ceremonies-and
Speech
From
the
Throne
followed
by
reply's
from
the
Prim
Minister
and
other
parties
and
subsequent
debate.
Each
party
submitted
one
Bill
and
two
Resolutions.
The
Bills
were:
?
1
.
An
Act
to
Ensure
Canada
Assumes
its
Responsibility
in
Preventing
Dangerous
Climate
Change
,
2.
An
Act
to
Enable
African
Women's
Empowerment
and
African
Sustainable
Development
3.
Act
for
the
Protection
of
Citizens
21
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of
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Caledonia
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