One kid said to another kid, “I can’t believe I’m almost six!”
His friend replied, “Relax, dude. Six is the new five.”
And here’s one more funny story for you. A couple met up with their son at the legislative buildings, and said, “Look, we’re sorry! If we had known you were going to be a famous politician, we’d have been better parents!”
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Several years ago I wrote about a young Canadian who became a politician, and I did some research to see what he’s been up to lately. Now at the age of 20 years, Sam Oosterhoff has already been re-elected Member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara West, collecting about 10,000 more votes than the next runner-up.
“It’s an important thing to stay humble, but I have grown into the role perhaps a bit more than when I started,” he said after his big win. “I wasn’t as comfortable when I started, but I have listened to good people and surrounded myself with good people and worked hard. It’s paid off.”
He eased his way into the position beginning as a policy analyst, then legislative assistant at the House of Commons, while attending university part-time.
At the age of 19 he became the youngest Ontario MPP ever elected. The previous record holder was a 21 year old MPP back in 1948.
Sam now has the additional role of parliamentary assistant for the Minister of Education in Ontario. Regarding the repealing of the controversial sex education curriculum, he says, “We need to listen to educators, parents and students themselves.”
Critics claim the sex education curriculum is comprehensive and scientifically-valid, yet many parents disagree and claim it is age inappropriate. His critics also express concern about his history of being home schooled, but Sam’s career moves appear to validate his quality of education.
At the age of 14 he recalls reading about a Supreme Court decision and thinking “I can’t believe there’s this much power in government that they’re able to force this type of thing down people’s throats.” You have to admit there aren’t too many 14-year-olds who would read about a Supreme Court decision.
A mentor of his told him age wasn’t a barrier to making a difference in politics, and though he believed it, he hadn’t seen a lot of young people actually running for elected office themselves.
Sam says, “I see the potential to make a difference, and I see also the reality that it doesn’t help any to sit there and complain about what’s going on if you’re not actually getting out there. I think the people who voted for me understood that they wanted a fresh approach, someone who was going to speak his mind.”
He has already tabled the Compassionate Care Act, a bill that has passed its second reading, and draws attention to the often ignored issue of palliative care.
As you can see, we can never underestimate the abilities of any young person, because he or she might very well surprise us. Even the kid who remembers her teacher looking her way and saying, “Name two pronouns”, and the girl replies “Who, me?”
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