Trip to Ottawa inspires aspiring public servant

Marion Erickson is a UNBC student, working on a degree in public administration and community development. She’s also minoring in First Nations studies and is a member of the Nak’azdli community.

And this year, she was the Student Mentorship Program Participant and travelled to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting in Ottawa, along with members of Prince George City Council.

Erickson says, while she was intrigued by the program, she didn’t actually know what she was getting herself into at first.

“There was a poster at school and it was for the Student Mentorship Program and I didn’t know much about it. I applied and I didn’t know that it involved the trip to Ottawa but I was happy to attend when I realized what I’d been chosen for.”

One highlight was being at the event with Prime Minister Trudeau and federal party leaders. She says she particularly enjoyed Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s sense of humour.

For Erickson, the trip was a great opportunity to learn about the realities of public policy and community development.

“I’d like to encourage the young people in Prince George to run for your school leadership. The Canadian Federation of Students, through the Students Union at CNC, is a really great place to start. There’s also NUGSS.”

Erickson says she’s considering running for school board, inspired by:

“Mayor Lyn Hall, actually. I thought it was really interesting speaking to him and talking about some of our interests, in education and in Prince George.”

While the trip was overwhelmingly positive, Erickson did mention one aspect that troubled her. She delivered this part of her report to Council with deep emotion.

“I grew up on an Indian Reservation and we do not belong to any sort of national platform except as wards of the Indian Act. Being a Status Indian, this large meeting was sometimes a very somber event, there seemed to be a huge amount of capacity in the FCM for the benefit of most Canadians, but especially not for Indian communities under the Indian Act.”

Erickson also expressed an interest in one day serving on council for the Nak’azdli.