This article was first published by AuroraToday.ca, a Village Media publication.
An Aurora family seems to be establishing a dynasty of legislative pages, with their second child now having taken part in the program.
Rishabh was the latest member of the Goel family to be one of 150 grades 7 and 8 students from across Ontario selected as a legislative page at Queen's Park, during the fall term of 2024. Students in grades 7 and 8 apply for the program, which sees them spend three weeks volunteering in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Toronto.
The job involved early days, with Goel waking at 5:30 every morning to take the train to downtown Toronto. From there, the days were busy, with either the mornings or afternoons spent doing regular classwork, while the other part of the day was spent in the chambers, delivering water, bills and other documents to MPPs.
“For each different thing you need to deliver, there's a specific route you needed to take,” said the 14-year-old. Rishabh, a student at Hartman Public School in Aurora, said he was able to learn quickly, having seen his older brother, Rohan, take part in the program in 2023.
The days involved spending long periods of time on your feet and running from MPPs' offices to deliver what they needed. During his time, Rishabh was present for debates on topics such as bike lanes, which he said resulted in a “lot of yelling."
“There's a lot of yelling. That was my favourite part of the day, because, there was a lot of action,” he said.
But behind the scenes, it’s a different picture, said Rishabh, who met with Premier Doug Ford and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa during his time as a page.
“They’re nicer in person, for sure,” he added.
The family went into the viewing galleries and saw Rishabh in action, with father Vinay Goel saying Rishabh learned a lot from the “real world world experience."
“In terms of politics, not a lot of students put their interest to understand how government runs and what politics is about and how decisions are made, especially at that young age,” he said.
In a few years time, Rishabh’s mother, Veenu, joked they may complete the trifecta, when their youngest child, Roshni, becomes old enough for the program.
The program is designed for outgoing, high-achieving, community-involved students who have demonstrated responsibility and leadership. More information about the legislative page program can be found online.
