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Five weeks is a long time to be away, but Isabelle Funk loves being a page at Queen's Park

On weekends, she returns home to Guelph to spend time with her family and last weekend celebrated her 13th birthday
Isabelle Funk Submitted
13-year-old Isabelle Funk of Guelph is participating in the Legislative Page program at Queen's Park. The teen will spend a total of five weeks in Toronto. Submitted photo

The hardest part about being a legislative page at Queen’s Park are the times you need to stand perfectly still and not laugh, says 12-year-old Isabelle Funk.

“We have to be very focused and we have to keep a poker face all of the time, no matter what is said or what is done,” said Isabelle.

“It’s sometimes very tough,” she admitted.

A Grade 8 student at St. Michael's Catholic School, Isabelle has spent every weekday over the last four weeks enrolled in the legislative page program at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

She is set to complete the five-week placement this Thursday.

“I have learned so much. For one, I learned how to balance water on a tray, I learned how the bills turn into laws and the daily routine of the legislature,” said Isabelle.

Isabelle has had to put many of her extra-curricular activities on hold while she participated in the page program.

“Soon I will be able to get back to everything,” said Isabelle.

Aside from working hard to achieve good grades — one of the requirements for becoming a page — Isabelle said she is also involved in many other facets of school life, including student council, social justice and a variety of other clubs.

She is also a member of the Guelph Youth Singers and is involved in sports.

Pages must arrive at Queen’s Park by 8 a.m. Dressed in their uniform and serve as messengers on the floor of the legislature.

They must also memorize the names and faces of the 107 members of provincial parliament (MPPs) prior to their first day of the placement.

Isabelle declined to say if she had any favourite MPPs on the floor.

"I have to remain non-partisan," she noted.

The experience hasn’t been all work and no play for Isabelle, as field trips are organized every week to places like the Royal Ontario Museum.

“It has been an amazing experience, I love it so much,” she said.

All of the pages are friends and hang out, said Isabelle, but she is especially bonding with the page she is temporarily living with.

The pair take public transit to and from Queen’s Park every day.

“It’s very exciting. I travel with my friend — my billet family has a daughter who is also a page, so we travel together,” said Isabelle.

She is looking forward to returning to school in Guelph later this week.

“It’s an important job, but I do miss my friends,” said Isabelle.

On weekends, she returns home to Guelph to spend time with her family and last weekend celebrated her thirteenth birthday.

Elisha Funk, Isabelle’s mother, said there has been a noticeable change in her daughter over the four weeks.

“It’s just mind boggling. The language she is using is so much more grown up — I don’t know how else to describe it,” said Elisha.

In 2014, Isabelle was named one of Guelph’s ’40 under 40’ for her advocacy for Tourette Syndrome, a neurological disorder she was diagnosed with in 2013.

She was crowned the 2013 Tourette Syndrome Hero in an annual contest held by the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada.

Isabelle said prior to participating in the program, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she grows up.

“Now, I think I really want to be an MPP. Seeing them talk and do what they do, it’s really changed my perspective on what I want to do when I grow up and I think it would be a really cool experience and a cool job to be an MPP,” said Isabelle.


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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