A Grade 11 French Immersion student from Morden Collegiate Institiute has been chosen as the Youth Member of Morden City Council.

Jaxon Forster says the role entails more than he expected.

"We had our first council meeting [on December 27th], I guess you could say the ones that I go to. It was super interesting! This time I just listened. I did my formal introduction. But outside of that I haven't fully unveiled my plan. I want to do something that I was personally passionate about as well. But I also want to make sure that it's something that other people are going to be interested in. I have to do some talking. I don't have a full-on plan. But one of the big things that I hope for this year is that I get to learn a lot and I get a lot of new experiences."

That meeting moved at a much quicker pace than Forster had imagined it would.

 

Jaxon Forster takes his place as youth member of Morden city council meeting on December 27, 2023.Jaxon Forster takes his place as youth member of Morden city council meeting on December 27, 2023.

He believes his new role will prove educational.

"I hope to learn some time management. I think it's super-duper important to be able to budget your time effectively so that you can get done everything that you have to get done, in time, and maybe even ahead of time. Then you have to stress at the deadline, which feels great. Doesn't happen a lot for me, but it when it does it feels awesome!"

One of the initial challenges for the council's youngest member is learning the intricacies of crafting an effective email.

"You have to write it like a note, but not really. It's super strange because some stuff applies, and some stuff doesn't."

Forster is eager to step into the day-to-day shoes of a local government official. 

"I know it's, I guess you could say, a smaller scale of government. But I'm sure in a lot of ways the stuff that they're doing here applies up to a provincial level and I'm sure parts of it apply to a federal level as well."

The junior student sees his role not only as a means of gaining new experiences, but a way of giving back to the community as well.

"I want to have a chance to help out with my community in any way I can. I think that's super important. We have a great community in Morden and in the wider Pembina Valley as well. It's nice to be able to help out on a more Morden-specific, because you see your impact a little bit more and you really know the people that you'd be helping out, which I think is super cool. It's great to see when what you're doing does impact stuff like when I did through Katie Cares and my lemonade stand that I used to do and other donations that I’ve gotten to be a part of. It's super cool to see that it's helping."

Jaxon Forster introduces himself as youth member of Morden city council meeting on December 27, 2023.

Fully aware that most of the community is aware of his role, Forster is not intimidated by approaching and meeting people in order to hear their ideas, whether they're communicated in person or via email. 

"It's super important to hear what they want as well because if I don't know it's kind of hard to make it happen.

Forster is excited about making his own contributions to future council meetings. 


~With files from Robyn Wiebe~

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