EMSB Student gets Parliamentary Honour
STUDENT MEETS PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU: Royal West Academy Secondary IV student Allison Engo attended the Prime Minister of Canada’s Science Fair at Parliament Hill in Ottawa earlier this month. They had invited 30 young scientists from across Canada who had shown scientific innovation in health, technology, and environment. “I was thrilled to be there because I got to meet many VIPs and to reunite with many of my fellow Canada Wide Science medalist,” she said. The morning was devoted to a round table meeting with Kirsty Duncan, the Federal Minister of Science. Students took turns describing their projects and Allison said she was impressed by the breadth of innovative ideas. The spirit of discovery was certainly very strong in that room That afternoon, they setup their projects and they were visited by Members of Parliament and Senators. While Allison got to meet the likes of Ms. Duncan, Jane Philpott and Senator Grant Mitchell, the highlight of the day was when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to see her. “I was delighted to find out that he already knew the details of my project and he showed great interest in dietary antioxidants,” she said. “We also spent some time talking about Royal West Academy and our home town Montreal. In the end, he left with some advice, ‘Allison, expect the unexpected.’ The irony of it was that so far, 2018 was already full of unexpected events. I could not believe that I had just had a one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada to discuss my personal interests. What an unforgettable day!"