Sergeants-at-Arms first made their appearance as far back as the 13th century as bodyguards or armed servants of the Kings and Queens. By the 15th century, one Sergeant-at-Arms was appointed to the House of Commons on behalf of the Monarchy. Soon, however, the Commons was able to choose its own Sergeant-at-Arms to attend to the Speaker and Commons in general. Today, the Sergeant-at-Arms still attends to the Speaker and the Legislative Assembly. He is responsible for the security of the Speaker, Members, staff and guests of the Legislative Assembly.
One of the main duties of the Sergeant-at-Arms is the care and custody of the Mace. In the Speaker's Parade (or Procession) that begins each day's session, the Sergeant-at-Arms leads the Speaker, the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk, and Clerk of Committees and two Pages into the Legislative Assembly Chamber. He/she carries the Mace on their shoulder and then places it in a special stand in front of the Clerks Table where it remains throughout the sitting as a symbol of the Assembly's authority. When in the Chamber, the Sergeant-at-Arms sits at the end of the Chamber opposite the Speaker.
Another duty of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly is to administer the Page program at the Legislature. The Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for establishing the work schedule, standards of behavior, and the general day-to-day supervision of the program.
To contact the Sergeant-At-Arms, .
Pages
Long ago, a page was a young person from a noble family who served a king, a lord or a lady. Pages learned how to use weapons and do other jobs for their masters. More recently, parliamentary pages have worked in the House of Commons carrying messages, running errands, and distributing printed material, not unlike the current tasks of pages all over Canada. However, for many years after Confederation, it was customary for the House of Commons to choose boys, often as young as eleven years of age, from the Ottawa-Hull region to serve in this capacity. During those years, pages were required to be small, no taller than 5'6''. Parliamentarians were concerned that larger boys might obscure their view during debates. Uniforms were provided in one size only and were handed down from those leaving to new recruits. In 1971, the Senate hired the first two female pages.
Today, about eight pages are employed when the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly is in session. They provide essential services to the Members and Officers of the Legislature. The page program is designed to allow junior high school students who are developing an interest in the legislative process or in public affairs, an opportunity to see, first-hand, how public policy is decided by the Legislative Assembly.
The broad range of tasks a page performs include:
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preparing for and cleaning up after each sitting of the Legislature;
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distributing documents in the Legislative Chamber;
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receiving and delivering items in and outside the Chamber as directed; and
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distributing translation receivers.
When the Legislative Assembly is in session, pages sit at various places around the Chamber. The pages must watch for the Members' call and respond accordingly.
Pages go to school full-time and work in the Chamber about 15-hours a week. Pages must have a good all-round performance at school and good self-discipline. The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly administers the Page program at the Legislature. He is responsible for establishing the work schedule, standards of behavior, supplying uniforms and the general day-to-day supervision of the program.
To learn more about becoming a page, .