The Portage la Prairie City Council welcomed their youth councillor to the table.

Portage Collegiate Institute student Paige McCulloch was introduced at the November 14th City Council meeting. She says being able to see the members of the community in attendance and meeting the new and returning councillors and watching them discuss their topics was invaluable. McCulloch adds, she’s excited about the first event that she’ll be organizing, which will take place at PCI.

“The councillors will be coming into the school on December 8th from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.,” says McCulloch. “We'll be having a little meet the councillors with the students can come in and the councillors are going to be bringing baked goods and you can come in at any time when you have a spare or lunch and come meet them and get to know them a little bit.”

McCulloch says she had quite a number of fellow students also vying for the position, which isn’t always the case. She explains her process of earning the role.

“The first step was to talk to Blair Hordesky (at PCI),” says McColloch. “Then you had to write an essay about why you wanted to become the youth councillor. We then had a meeting with Mayor Sharilyn Knox, who was only a councillor at the time.”

Following the initial meeting, she says she met with the other students running for the position and had a group discussion. McCulloch notes she still keeps in touch with those students and they all help give her ideas on how to perform her role to the best of her ability. 

McCulloch will be the youth councillor until September 2023.

Related Stories