I. MADE. IT. THROUGH. MY. FIRST. DAY. AS. A. PEYGE!!!!
And no, to all my friends who are reading this, I did NOT spill any water on any of the MPPs despite my very clumsy tendencies. :D
NOR did I trip, fall, sprawl in the hall or otherwise flatten myself like a pancake on the floor of the Chamber.
I made it!
And it was INCREDIBLE!
I had such a wonderful first day!
It started off really well with an early morning walk to Queen's Park. The city is actually kind of quiet in the early morning.
When I arrived, I waited outside the Page Quarter doors for a few minutes saying goodbye to my parents. As I was standing there, a man walked over and said...
"New Page?"
I responded that, yes, I was a new page and that it was my first day.
He smiled and welcomed me and we talked for a few minutes about being a Page. He was so nice!
And it happened to be none other than.....
Mr. MPP Garfield Dunlop from Simcoe North.
I just knew after having this positive experience with Mr. Dunlop that my day was going to be just fine! I immediately felt less nervous.
After I changed into my uniform it was time for
Morning Briefing
This is when we talk about any special duties for the day which can include:
Water Station (where you're responsible for filling all MPP and Clerk glasses with water & ice)
East Lobby (opening doors for people, greeting people)
West Lobby (same as East Lobby only on the west side ;) )
Pages who have special duties spend the morning and a portion of the afternoon at their station, but then join the other pages on the floor after 4:30 (when 1/2 of the page group goes to math class).
Today we used some of our morning briefing time to review some of the MPPs so that we all feel prepared to greet them on the floor. We also talked about some interesting facts. Here's one for you...
Quick tip: The Honourable Mister Bradley, MPP from St. Catharines and Minister of Environment, was an MPP in the House when Honourable John Milloy (Kitchener Center, Minister of Government Services and Government House Leader) was a Page in the '70s! Now they're both Ministers together! Perhaps I'm serving as Page with an MPP who I will share the floor with when I become an MPP! Or Premier! :D
After morning briefing, I was posted to the water station. This meant filling a never ending number of glasses with ice and water. There must've been a million glasses!!!! It was a little chaotic at times, but can you believe I didn't spill a drop! Once the glasses were filled, I passed them on to my page teammates who took them to the MPPs.
We had a quick break for lunch in the page quarters. I had pasta with chicken! Yum!
Then it was back to work!
I spent some more time in the water station until it was time for Orders of The Day.
This is when 1/2 of our page group goes to math class and the rest stays in the Chamber. This meant it was time for me to hit the floor! I felt a lot more confident than I thought I would and was able to walk right up to the Dias (where the Speaker sits) and take my seat.
Orders of the Day is a time that's used for MPPs to debate about bills and handle any business that's been deferred.
I sat at the Speaker's feet trying to remember to stand and sit when he did. I think our team did pretty well for our first day. We didn't need any signals or prompting, we all worked together and did it properly. I had an opportunity then to deliver some water to Hansard (the people who keep the records of everything that is said in the Chamber) and to some of the MPPs.
We had a few breaks in the afternoon which gave us an opportunity to have a snack and relax a little before going back to the floor.
I also was even able to take a delivery to the Hansard Office this afternoon! Going to the Hansard Office is the only time a Page is allowed to use the elevators (except when you go to the Whitney Block). Hansard office is on the 5th floor of the Main Building. It was a little tricky finding the elevators since I've only toured the building once (on Orientation day) but my Page partner and I found it and made it there and back quickly. While we were in the elevator on the way up to the 5th floor, we met MPP Jack MacLaren who is from Carleton - Mississippi Mills (a riding that is right near mine!). He rode in the elevator with us and we had the chance to talk to him. I can't get over how nice everyone at Queen's Park is. It makes working there so much easier and so much fun!
My shift today was supposed to be a late one, meaning I was supposed to stay in the Chamber until 6:00, however, during Orders of the Day, the MPPs were debating Bill number 55
Quick tip: Bill number 55 is about consumer protection (like helping protect our citizens from individuals who the MPPs called "fraudsters" come to your door saying they are from a company, so you sign a contract with them for a service that either doesn't exist or isn't a good deal and then there's nothing you can do about it).
the debating had gone on for SOOOOOOO long that Minister of Consumer Services who presented the, the Honourable Tracey MacCharles (Pickering Scarborough East) asked that the debate about the Bill be deferred until tomorrow.
So we were dismissed early!
The funny thing? I thought today would be long and nerve-wracking, but really it flew by! I was having so much fun doing my job and working with my teammates that the time passed without me even noticing. I really can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
--- PeyThePEYge
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