“We wouldn’t be allowed to act that way in school,” said students of Innisfail Middle School after they attended the traditional question period in the legislature of their province of Alberta. Canadian students are often taken on trips to their provincial assemblies or the federal parliament so they can better understand democracy and how government works.
Teachers complained
On their visit in November, Innisfail’s grade 6 students heard legislators talking and yelling over each other. “We witnessed members tell each other that they ‘suck and blow,’ motions across the floor from one representative to another inviting them outside to fight, verbal invitation to fight, and again, numerous reprimands from the Speaker,” stated a letter of complaint sent by teachers at the middle school to the leaders of all three opposition parties, the provincial premier and the speaker of the legislature.
“A number of the kids looked at me in the legislature that day and said, ‘Are they allowed to say that?’” said Tom Stones, a Grade 6 teacher at Innisfail Middle School.
“That is not what we wanted”
Later, when the students held a mock legislature session at school, one of the students asked if he “could be the guy who asks the other guy to go outside and fight?” “The other teacher and I looked at each other and just went, ‘That is not what we wanted,’” said Stones.
Innisfail Middle School will continue to take students to the Alberta legislature, but they will no longer attend question period.
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