On February 22nd the 7/8 class went to Kitchener City Hall to participate in a mock Council meeting. The week before, everyone in the class was assigned a role and had two class periods to prepare for their parts. The issue for debating was the Strasburg Road extension proposal.
When the class arrived at City Hall, Mrs. Yvonne Fernandes, the Ward 4 Councillor, gave us a tour. After that we walked into the Council Chamber, where Mrs. Fernandes introduced us to our spots and gave us a basic guideline for a normal city council meeting.
Then, the debate began. Mrs. Fernandes acted as the mayor. The first delegate to speak was Katie Gosen, who played the part of the owner of the heritage site which would be close to the new road. She spoke like it was her business. The second delegate was Rachel, who represented Ontario Heritage Sites. The third was Becca, who represented environmental concerns and the fourth were Gillian and Hanna, who represented water conservation. The final delegates to speak at the podium were Andrew and Ethan, who supported construction of the new road. Then, the students asked many questions, with ten of us playing the parts of ward councillors. They followed the flow or an ordinary meeting and Mrs. Fernandes did an excellent job leading them. The students said they would do it again if they could.
By Adrian, Grade 8