The British Columbia Legislative Internship Program (Profile of a Unique Educational Experience‪)‬

Canadian legislative intern programmes trace their roots back to March 10, 1969, when Alfred Hales, the Member for Parliament for Wellington, presented a motion to the House of Commons proposing an internship program be established to promote a better understanding of the national legislative process. This motion, gained the support of The Canadian Political Science Association, the Speaker of the House of Commons and party leaders. By September 1970, ten of Canada's brightest university graduates were invited to Parliament Hill to participate in what former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson described as, the most important experiment in parliamentary activity since 1867. Inspired by these events in Ottawa, the late Dr. Walter Young, a political scientist at the University of Victoria, advanced the idea of a political internship program catered to the needs of the British Columbia Legislature. By January 1976, Dr. Young secured the necessary support of the Speaker of the Legislature and BC's political parties and opened the doors to British Columbia's brightest university graduates for a five-month legislative internship program. This article describes the evolution and innovations of the BC Legislative Internship Program (BCLIP). It is written from the perspective of five interns who served in the 2003 BCLIP. **********