Aiden Willmot rolls off the edge of the couch in the mayor’s office, as his sister Brooklyn contemplates what she would do to Squamish if put in charge.
“I would build a zoo,” the Grade 4 Stawamus Elementary School student says. “I really like animals… I would be fair as mayor. So I would send the message out before I did anything.”
“What about the water slides?” Aiden says as he finds his way back onto the couch beside her.
“Oh yeah, and a water slide park,” she adds.
This has been a busy morning for the duo. After discovering that Brooklyn’s paper on being mayor won the District of Squamish’s Mayor for a Day challenge, on Thursday, (May 22), Brooklyn and her brother got a ride in a fire truck, visited the municipally run pound and SPCA facility and were now touring city hall.
After being shown around the council chamber and wearing the mayor’s Chain of Office — which Brooklyn decided looked as though it belonged in a Harry Potter movie — the siblings were returning to their school at which Brooklyn’s class would share in her winning with a pizza party.
The Mayor for a Day contest was a part of Local Government Awareness Week, which runs from May 18 to May 24. The challenge was open to all elementary school students in Squamish.
“I thought I was going to lose against the whole district,” the nine-year-old says. “Then I thought, ‘I have the same chance as anybody.’”
Brooklyn was allowed to bring a friend on the adventure and chose her seven-year-old brother, who quickly points out he is vice-mayor for the day. Before heading back to school, Brooklyn had some important business to announce.
“I want to give a shout out to my best friend Sarah Raiser,” she says. “I order Coun. Raiser to give each of his daughters $100.”
