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Teens get run of the House – Metro US

Teens get run of the House

A bill passed in the legislature over the weekend will lower the voting age to 16, but the members who passed it weren’t much older than 16 themselves — and the passing of the bill was only an exercise.

Thirty-eight high school students from around the province took part in a model legislature at Province House that started Friday and finished yesterday afternoon.

Keith Lehwald, a Grade 12 student from Halifax West High School, said the bill debates were the best part and they were able to pass the voting-age bill but did not pass a bill that would give a 35 per cent tax credit to farmers who produce ethanol.

“The actual debates in the House, it was a great exercise in public speaking,” Lehwald said. He plans to take a double major in political science and French when he heads off to university next year and said he’ll likely become a lawyer or politician.

This weekend’s event was the sixth annual model legislature organized by the province’s Department of Education.

-robyn.young@metronews.ca