THUNDER BAY – Jaimi Plater takes her politics seriously.
That’s a rarity in a 15-year-old these days.
A Grade 10 student at Hammarskjold High School, the youngster is busy prepping for this week’s Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s Model Parliament session, being held at Queen’s Park on Wednesday and Thursday.
Jaimi, who will represent Thunder Bay-Superior North, will join the Liberal party for the two-day event, arguing in favour of a bill that would provide free insurance for all prescription medication.
“I’m excited to go because I’m extremely passionate about politics. We got the chance to write some legislation on a provincial issue that’s important to us. And then we get to debate with people from all across Ontario and hear different perspectives on various political issues that should be discussed among youth,” she said.
Jaimi said her interest in the political game began in Grade 7, when she watched Al Gore’s climate-change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
“For some reason it sparked an interest in environmental issues for myself. And then after watching it a couple of times I started thinking, if he’s doing all this and he’s in a position of power, then he actually had the opportunity to make a change,” said Jaimi, who last month took part in the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement in Ottawa alongside students and educational leaders from 50 countries.
It was one quote in particular from Gore’s film, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” that inspired her to get more involved and convinced her that someday she’d like to become a politician herself – after going to law school first.
“I thought getting a start now would allow me to help do that and to make some changes for the better, not only in our own city, but possibly in our own country one day.”
A total of 107 Ontario students will take part in the Model Parliament sessions, one for each riding in the province.
Her English teacher, Alex Kraft-Wilson, said Jaimi is wise beyond her years, one of those students that comes along with great insight and a vision of the importance of students having their collective voice heard.
And it’s all self-driven.
Given the political turmoil in the world today, the more people like Jaimi, the better, her teacher said.
“Students need to know the facts to be able to proceed and present their information in a respectful, yet assertive way,” Kraft-Wilson said.
“People need to know what Jaimi is doing and how it all came about. And it really came about from her own initiative. It’s not a school initiative.”
