The term "House Page" was used as far back as 1841 in the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. In 1968, a minimum working age of 16 years was adopted but it is only in 1978, after an article in The Wall Street Journal criticized the pages' working conditions, that the previous system was completely discarded in favour of the current one. It was only in 1978 that women were able to participate in the program, as opposed to the all boys program that existed prior. Some of the pages from the old system were kept on as "senior pages" to supervise the new pages and serve as a form of continuity. Notable among these first senior pages were Andre Frechette and David Lavictoire. Although officially under the auspices and jurisdiction of the Speaker of the House, the Page Program for the first 20 years was the full-time responsibility of Miss Annette Leger, a former assistant to federal Liberal Cabinet Minister Donald Stovel Macdonald. Notable alumni Charles Marcil: Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1909-1911. Was a Page under the pre-1978 system. Marc Bosc: Former Acting Clerk of the House of Commons (Alumnus - 1978-79) Catherine Cano: President and General Manager of CPAC (Cable Public Affairs Channel) (Alumna 1981-1982) Bernard Drainville: Journalist and former Parti Québécois cabinet minister (Alumnus 1982-83) Bernard Trottier: Former MP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore (Alumnus - 1983-84) Jean-Yves Duclos: Current Minister of Health, and MP for Québec (Alumnus - 1984-1985) Joel-Denis Bellavance: Journalist, Ottawa Bureau Chief for La Presse (Alumnus - 1986-87) Rita Celli: CBC Television anchor and radio host (Alumna - 1987-88) Steve Desroches: former Deputy Mayor and City Councillor for the City of Ottawa (Alumnus 1988-89) Greg Fergus: Current MP for Hull—Aylmer (Alumnus - 1988-1989) Eve Adams: Former MP for Mississauga—Brampton South (Alumna 1992-93) Marc Kielburger : social entrepreneur, founder of ME to WE (Alumnus 1995-96) Katie Telford: Current Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada (Alumna 1997-98) Andrew Price: Executive Commissioner and CEO of Scouts Canada (Alumnus 1998-99) See also Canadian Senate Page Program U.S. House of Representatives Page Program United States Senate Page References External links House of Commons Page Program House of Commons Page Program History House of Commons of Canada Educational organizations based in Ontario