BU prof honoured for internship program

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This article was published 28/11/2023 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon University professor has been recognized by the Manitoba legislature for a decade of developing and guiding students through the legislature internship program.

Kelly Saunders, an associate professor in the departments of political science and gender and women’s studies at BU, was recognized by the Speaker of the House, Tom Lindsey, during the session for her dedication to the program as academic director.

“I’m stepping down from the internship program this year. It was nice that the Speaker of the Manitoba legislature gave a nice little spiel and introduced this year’s interns and then thanked me for my years of service,” Saunders said.

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba’s Internship Program has been running since 1985. It is a non-partisan program that accepts six students per year who have graduated from university in any area of study. The students then work for either the Progressive Conservative caucus or the New Democrat caucus for a year.

“It’s a great program because they do a lot of speech writing, they do constituency work, they prepare briefing notes for the MLAs and basically just help them in their official duties. They get a chance to really learn how government works from the inside and, of course, it’s in the legislature. They get to watch question period, and all the stuff that goes on in the legislative assembly,” Saunders said. “It’s a really fantastic program because they get that bird’s-eye view of how government works in Manitoba.”

The program is competitive and draws high-quality applicants from all over the province. Saunders said she really believes in the program. It was her goal to add diversity to the program by adding representation from outside of Winnipeg and many BU students have made the cut.

“The applications that we get are just phenomenal — students that have really good marks, that have volunteered in their communities and come from all different walks and backgrounds,” she said. “One of the things that I particularly push for, which is kind of how I got involved, is for the MLAs in Winnipeg to really have a sense of the issues and concerns of folks outside of Winnipeg.

“The BU students have had some great success at getting into the program,” she added. “They bring their own experiences, right from growing up in small towns or from farm families or from up north or wherever they’re from.”

Saunders explained the interns go on to be contributing members of society and over the last 10 years she has seen the difference they can make.

“There’s a lot of people that were former interns that just really went on to do really interesting and important work, so it just kind of shows the quality of the program. It’s really quite a little gem. We’re one of the only programs of its kind in Canada. It’s quite rare and special to have this program here and in Manitoba.”

» khenderson@brandonsun.com