Meaford Community School student Bethany Jones received a rare honour in April when she was chosen to work as a page at Queen's Park for three weeks.

Bethany was selected for the Legislative Page Program after maintaining an 80-per-cent average in school and completing a three-page essay about why she wanted to serve as a page at the Ontario Legislature.

In February she was selected for the program and served on the floor at the provincial legislature from April 7 - 25.

During that time, Bethany had a front-row seat to witness the inner workings of the Legislature. She was on hand from Monday to Thursday each week at the Legislature and was up close to all the action that occurs during Question Period and other important times of debate at Queen's Park.

"It was really, really fun," Bethany said in an interview last week. "At first I was a little surprised at how much heckling there is. I really enjoyed it. It was very cool to meet all these people that I was studying," she said.

The Queen's Park Page Program is very exclusive. Only 20 Pages serve at any one time and they come from all the province's 107 legislative ridings. The program is open to students in grade seven and eight. Local MPP Bill Murdoch treated Bethany to lunch last Friday afternoon in Meaford to recognize her service at Queen's Park.

Legislative Pages are kept busy when they work at Queen's Park. Each day before the House session begins, they enter the Chamber and update every MPP's binder of information with new Hansard material and other important documents. While the House is in session, Pages are a ubiquitous presence on the floor of the Legislature.

They deliver notes to and from MPPs and their assistants behind the curtains of the Chamber. Each day a Page is also assigned to the press gallery to deliver messages back and forth between reporters at the session and MPPs.

In the afternoon, Pages receive lessons about the legislative process. Prior to beginning work at Queen's Park, Pages are required to memorize the name, face and the riding represented by all 107 provincial parliament members. Bethany said she was able to memorize all the MPPs by cutting out their pictures and pasting them to a seating plan of the legislature provided to her.

The most intense part of the day for everybody at Queen's Park is Question Period. This is the one time that opposition members have an opportunity to hold members of the government accountable for their actions.

"Question period is very hectic, especially if you're on the government side. The assistants have to get their messages to their Minister because the Minister is being asked questions," she explained.

In his 18 years as MPP, Murdoch recalls a number of local students serving as Pages at Queen's Park.

"I don't know anybody who has done that job and didn't really enjoy it. It's an awesome place to be," Murdoch said of Queen's Park.

Bethany said during her time as a Page the legislature, as always, was a very busy and controversial place. During one session, Progressive Conservative member Peter Shurman was ejected from the House after he refused to withdraw a comment about an opposition member. Bethany said there were a few heated debates about the Liberal government's plan to change the hours the legislature sits (those changes have now been made and generated headlines across the province).

She also witnessed a large protest at Queen's Park about Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello's trip to China.

"You could hear them inside the building," she said of the protesters.

Bethany said during her time at Queen's Park, she was treated to a dinner at the Speaker of the House's private apartment. The Speaker is elected in a secret ballot by all MPPs. He or she presides over the legislature when it's sitting and is responsible for security and the upkeep of the buildings at Queen's Park and its grounds. The Speaker is the only MPP assigned a residence on site.

She also attended meetings with Progressive Conservative Leaders John Tory and Bob Runciman (Tory is the official leader of the of the PC Party, but he does not hold a seat in the legislature, Runciman serves as Leader in the House) and NDP Leader Howard Hampton.

Bethany also met Premier Dalton McGuinty on a number of occasions during while performing her duties.