CODETTE — The Village of Codette is in the process of inviting a new voice to their council table.
The call has gone out to local schools for a youth councillor age 15 to 17 to join in the discussion at the village council for a one-year term. Administrator Nathalie Hipkins said councillors were excited about the idea.
“They thought it was a wonderful idea to get the youth involved in politics,” Hipkins said. “There was a comment that they could be the ones that would take over later.”
Youth councillors will be attending council meetings, learning how the village council works, and be representing the youth of the community.
While they will not be able to vote on issues that come to the council table, they will have the power to lend their voice to the discussion, said Malcolm Haveroen, Codette’s mayor. With young families setting down roots in Codette, Haveroen said he would like to see more activities for young people around the community. Having a young person to lend their voice to those discussions is going to be important in bringing these community elements into Codette, he said.
With the average age of village councillors being past the 40-year-old mark, Hipkins said she is excited for the shift in perspective that will come with having a young voice on council.
Since the community has no school of their own, the student must be attending full time at either L.P. Miller Comprehensive School in Nipawin or École Notre-Dame-des-Vertus in Zenon Park in order to apply with preference given to Codette residents.
This will be the first youth councillor ever involved in the Codette council.
