Lauren Hanna (’11), who recently completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science at Acadia, is putting her skills to good use this year in the Ontario Legislature Internship Programme (OLIP) in Toronto. OLIP is a non-partisan program administered by the Canadian Political Science Association that provides MPPs with qualified assistants and recent university graduates with valuable practical exposure and mentorship.

The Aurora, Ontario native is working currently with Lisa Thompson, newly elected Progressive Conservative MPP for Huron-Bruce. In the spring she will move to the office of a Liberal MPP. Interns spend half their time working with a government MPP and the other half with a member of the opposition.

Hanna says she learned about OLIP in the fall of her final year at Acadia by researching internship programs and networking with mentors and contacts back in Ontario. “Although I had applied to grad schools and SSHRC funding, I wasn't sure what I wanted from a graduate experience and I was interested in gaining practical experience before heading back to school. I hadn't focused exclusively on parliamentary politics, but it was still an interest of mine and I wanted to figure out what role there was, if any, for individual input into the political process. I'm still figuring that out,” she says.

She started in September 2011 and is near the halfway point. “So far, it has been incredible. We started with a three-week orientation where we got acquainted with the legislature, meeting the clerks and speaker, and learning about many of the sponsors and alumni of our program who are in government relations, media and policy positions in the public service. Because of Ontario's fall election, my first placement was offsite in Public Affairs at the Law Society of Upper Canada, which is the regulatory body for the province's lawyers and paralegals. I'm currently working for a new Progressive Conservative MPP, Lisa Thompson. Lisa is great - she is passionate, and a strong voice for rural Ontario.

“I'm researching current issues, writing press releases and issue briefings, attending events, and traveling to other legislatures.  In a few weeks, we (the 10 legislative interns) are traveling to the Northwest Territories to visit the legislature there. It has been a pretty cool experience.”

Opportunity to explore issues

At Acadia, Hanna focused on a mixture of comparative politics and political theory. The diverse subject matter within the small department provided the opportunity to explore issues ranging from development and global governance to technology and water. She was a teaching assistant for courses in Law, Politics, Government and Culture and was one of three Canadian delegates at the annual SCUSA American Foreign Policy Conference at Westpoint in 2010, participating in roundtables on human security in the developing world.

Beyond the classroom, Hanna co-founded Acadia's first women and gender society, started and taught free weekly yoga classes, and wrote feature articles for the school's newspaper. In the summers of 2009 and 2010, she returned to Ontario to work at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where she led the revamp of the Student Programs website and prepared a report on law school grading and admissions. Prior to that, Hanna was involved in fundraising at a social service agency for young mothers in York Region.

The 24-year-old says, “OLIP is very different from my school experience, but it utilizes many of the skills I learned along the way. For instance, I credit my political science professors for pushing me to develop my critical analysis and writing skills. At Acadia, I learned how important it is to ask questions and challenge assumptions. This is an interesting lens to bring to the political sphere. I think it adds complexity and helps me to fulfill my role as a non-partisan actor. 

“My courses and professors at Acadia instilled a sense of responsibility and commitment to seeking out new information and perspectives. I will carry this with me wherever I go. I value education and intend to return to school, but think the values I developed at Acadia are probably even more important than what profession I end up in.” 

Hanna would like to pursue graduate studies with a new perspective on the political realm and hopes the internship will help her find ways of doing meaningful work in politics afterwards. During her free time, she enjoys the outdoors (especially hiking and being around water), watching live music (particularly jazz and folk), drinking coffee and cooking with friends, going to farmers’ markets and reading print versions of the paper.