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Join Youth Parliament weekend

The Southern Interior Youth Parliament (SIYP) is looking for interested youth to attend a great weekend of debate, fun, and parliament.

by Jacob Noseworthy

The Southern Interior Youth Parliament (SIYP) is looking for interested youth to attend a great weekend of debate, fun, and parliament.

The three-day event will be held at Kelowna Secondary School from May 29 – 31. Applicants must be between the ages of 13 and 18 as of Dec. 31, 2015, and living in the Southern Interior (all areas of British Columbia east of Hope and south of 100 Mile House).

While there is legislation to be passed at SIYP to facilitate the youth parliament movement, a large portion of the session revolves around private member’s resolutions (PMRs).

PMRs give members a chance to bring up and debate issues affecting their community, the province, the country, or the world. Some PMRs from the 7th SIYP included resolutions in support of free post-secondary education in Canada, in support of reinstating the Bank of Canada as a Crown corporation, and in opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project.

In hosting its 8th session this year, SIYP is proudly continuing the tradition originally started in July of 1988 with the Okanagan Youth Parliament.

The Southern Interior Youth Parliament is part of a larger organization known as the British Columbia Youth Parliament. BCYP holds its session each year in Victoria for a week, while SIYP is an excellent opportunity for many to improve their debate skills, learn more about parliament, and possibly move on to BCYP. The premier of SIYP, Sheridan Hawse, eagerly anticipates the weekend, adding, “SIYP has been an amazing opportunity for me to learn about parliamentary procedures. I also have had the chance to create lasting friendships. I urge anyone to join who may be interested, and to consider the amazing benefits SIYP brings to one’s political understanding in Canada.”

For more information and the application form for the Southern Interior Youth Parliament, visit bcyp.org/siyp.html. For any questions regarding the youth parliament, contact the chair of SIYP at seamus.benwell@bcyp.org or the chief returning officer at jacob.noseworthy@bcyp.org.