Victoria Dempster, a fourth year sociology student, had the opportunity of a lifetime to work alongside our country’s leader. Through The Summer Leadership Program, located in Ottawa, Victoria spent four months working on Parliament Hill.

The Summer Leadership Program is a program that runs out of Ottawa and other constituencies all across the country. This summer, Victoria worked solely out of Ottawa, working as a Special Assistant in the Prime Minister Correspondence Division. She is a writer, who alongside her colleagues, worked to review and respond to general mail that came into the PM’s office.

“I really enjoyed my experience. It was such a positive workplace environment, and allowed me to see how hard people work for this great country,” explained Victoria. “Meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau a couple of times was an amazing experience, and one I’ll never forget.”

Along with her correspondence role, there were additional experiences offered to Victoria, such as additional volunteer hours, hearing guest speakers, and participating in mock parliament activities to gain firsthand experience and advice from key players on the Hill.

This summer wasn’t the first time Victoria participated in The Summer Leadership Program. In 2016, Victoria worked in the office of the Honourable Ginette Petitpas, Member of Parliament for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, who has recently been given the role as Minister of Health.

Victoria will be graduating in May 2018, with aspirations to work in politics and governance in some way. She loves communication and writing, which is why this summer’s Parliamentary role was the perfect fit. Victoria is also Crandall’s star runner, being one of the 2016 Women All Conference Award Winners.