For the first time in 16 years, a youth parliament convened in the Yukon legislative assembly last week.

The program, which previously has attracted the likes of Shayne Fairman, Dan Cable, and former MLA Mike McLarnon, was relaunched by Speaker Ted Staffen as part of his Speaker's education outreach program.

'I think it's one of the ways to engage youth in the practice of democracy,' said Staffen.

'I thought it was very important to get as many youth involved from a wide cross-section of the territory that we could possibly do, to start thinking about how their government works and what they can do in the future to make it work better.'

The two-day program brought 14 students from across the territory to the capital.

The program was open to all high school students. Staffen said he hopes in the future to attract up to 36 students; one young man and one young woman from each of the Yukon's ridings.

The program provides the opportunity to meet people their age from other regions and become more attuned to the issues and concerns across the Yukon, said Staffen.

'You just feel more involved with your territory (taking part in the program),' said Terra-Lynn Asp, a student from Carmacks. 'I liked meeting everybody and seeing how everybody is talking to other people.'

Staffen said the various levels of talent entering the program were amazing, ranging from students who were just becoming interested in politics, to volunteers on youth councils in their communities to individuals who had previously attended similar programs in Ottawa and Washington, D.C.

'I'm deeply interested in politics,' said Conal Slobodin, a Vanier Catholic Secondary School student.

'It's the whole atmosphere of politics. It's what shaping our country and our world; how everything that's happening in politics affects everybody, whether they know it or not.'

The students had an opportunity to watch question period last Thursday to get a taste of a day in the legislative assembly.

The topics of the day predominantly revolved around development in Porter Creek and a letter sent by Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang to Whitehorse city council regarding a proponent who wants to develop a Porter Creek greenbelt area.

'They should have boxing gloves in there. They were a little scrappy,' said Paul Harder, a student from Watson Lake.

Harder said he was especially surprised by a comment made by Kluane MLA Gary McRobb regarding the sale amount of the land to the proponent, Daryl Novakowski, a former Yukon Party member who also ran for the Copperbelt nomination in last November's byelection.

'Can the minister tell us exactly how much is a nominal amount'? Is this back room price higher or lower than the five bucks it costs to become a member of the Yukon Party?' asked McRobb.

'That was a bit harsh,' said Harder.

'It made a bit of us, the people who I was sitting with, cringe,' agreed Slobodin.

He said citizens need to place a lot of trust in their elected representatives and because of that, their words and actions need to reflect that level of confidence.

'Every government needs to be ethical, right? We can't have immoral MLAs or MPs or MPPs (members of provincial parliament),' he said.

'You have to have your constituents trust you and if you do something and you aren't honest about it that's a bigger problem than if you do something and you're open about it.'

Slobodin added he's been bothered by the movement between parties both at the federal and territorial level.

'I think a lot of people have been stepping up or stepping down at the right times or wrong times and it's messed up our government. There's a lot of trust being lost by Canadians.'

But, he said he didn't blame NDP Leader Todd Hardy for ousting McRobb and Mayo-Tatchun MLA Eric Fairclough from the party when they had begun to consult their constituents about their political futures and expressed interest in joining the Liberal party.

'I believe in party solidarity,' he said. 'You're supposed to show strong party support and if you have somebody who's seriously considering joining another party ... then it's time for them to go.'

Harder agreed, saying elected representatives should stay with the party their residents voted for.

'I think if you decide to argue something you should do your best to stick to it,' he said. 'There are expectations at times, but even still, it was quite a bit (of movement).'

Despite their criticisms, though, the youth felt things are pretty good in the territory. Many cited tourism as one of their major interests in the Yukon's economy and health care as one of their concerns that needs work done on it.

'There's always different ideas bouncing around, but I think overall we're doing a pretty good job so far,' said Harder. 'The main thing that bothers me about government and about politics is the people who criticize but don't get involved.'

The youth were provided an opportunity to test out their debating skills on Friday when the youth parliament convened and two motions were debated.

Staffen said he hopes the program will begin to get Yukon youth more interested in the politics of the territory.

'I would like to leave this as part of the speaker's process and it will just become part of the speaker's duties,' he said.

Staffen has been in discussions with the Yukon Teachers' Association, the Department of Education and the Rotary club about the program's future.

He hopes this year's students will become ambassadors to the youth parliament and it will become an annual Education Week event.

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