The 98th consecutive year of the Youth Parliament of Manitoba will allow young Manitobans to debate various bills that the debaters themselves have created.

This experience allows young adults from across Manitoba to get a first-hand experience preparing and debating bills, speaking using parliamentary language, and to gather with other ambitious people. 

"We get to meet all these people. Some are like-minded, some aren't, so it makes for a really interesting debate," Karla Atanacio, Minister of Government Services says.

The Youth Parliament of Manitoba is a mock-parliament that allows Manitobans aged 16-20 to participate in meaningful debate about issues that are important to the debtors themselves. Bills concerning citizen privacy rights, post-secondary education for students with disabilities, and prescription drug coverage are some of the acts proposed in this year's session.

"It's important for everyone to be involved or know a little bit about politics," Emmanuel Olaniyanu, Minister of Revenue says. "I feel like I've learned a lot about it since I've joined. It's an amazing experience."

"It's important for everyone to be involved or know a little bit about politics," Emmanuel Olaniyanu, Minister of Revenue says. "I feel like I've learned a lot about it since I've joined. It's an amazing experience." The members are a part of the longest consecutively-run youth parliament in Canada and will gather for five days from December 26-30 to debate.

This year all five members of its board of directors are women, with three out of the five being women of colour, which could not have happened when the parliament was initially formed. The non-denominational, non-partisan group originally was only open to young caucasian, Christian men but the group is now open to all people from all walks of life.

Scholarships are also set up to remove the financial pressure that participating may bring. The registration fee does not include clothing or some select dinners. Attendees must dress by the regulations set out by the Parliament of Manitoba and attend numerous functions with various current and past parliament members. The nature of these types of events can create financial stress for their members.

"We want to make sure that Youth Parlament is available to anyone who wants to attend," Abigail Theano-Pudwill, Deputy Premier, says. "If anyone is unable to financially afford to come to youth parliament we will cover any of those costs that hold them back."