Hafiz Kanji: Grade 8 student earns job as Queen’s Park page

Hafiz Kanji is getting a taste of political life as one of 20 legislative pages currently working at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The 12-year-old Grade 8 Zion Heights Junior High School student said the four weeks he will spend at Queen’s Park will prepare him for a future in public office.

“It’s so interesting,” said Hafiz, who started working his new post Monday, Sept. 14. “Being in an adult environment, I’m getting a view of the job I want to do when I’m older.”

And if politics doesn’t work out, Hafiz has a back-up plan: soccer player.

Hafiz learned of the legislative page program through a friend who participated in the program last year, he said, adding he was a little nervous at the thought of such a big job but quickly calmed his nerves.

During his term of duty, Hafiz will serve as a messenger on the floor of the legislative chamber, meet key parliamentary figures and learn about Ontario’s parliamentary system of government.

A typical day begins at 8 a.m. and after dressing in their uniforms, pages spend their time delivering water and messages to the MPPs in the chamber and taking classes in legislative process and math.

“The hardest part is knowing who all the MPPs are,” Hafiz said, adding his parents helped him memorize the 107 politician’s faces before his first day.

“I didn’t expect to have so much fun. All the MPPs are nice and warm. I did not expect (the sittings) to be as informal as it is. I thought everything would be in order but people talk out of turn. It’s very surprising.”

The legislative page program is open to students in grades 7 and 8 who have an interest in current affairs, have an academic average of 80 per cent or higher and get along well with their peers and adults.

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