For the first time in nearly nine months, there were people ready to blow the dust off the desks for debate in the house of assembly.

But it was students — not MHAs — doing the debating.

"A little bit pathetic, but it's awesome," Grade 10 student Regan Burden said. "I'm really enjoying the fact that I can say, yeah, in 2012, I was one of the first people to debate there."

'It's a little interesting when the youth of this province are more willing to debate than the people who we are paying to do this.'—Evan Moffatt

The Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Parliament convened in the house on Thursday. The non-profit initiative aims to give young people a chance to experience the parliamentary system first-hand.

Delegates come from across the province to debate resolutions prepared by their peers. The youth parliament is open to students from Grade 10 all the way up to the age of 23.

"We will be talking about the fishery and OCI," communications director Stephanie Dawe said. "We have a wide spectrum of individuals this year, coming from ... Labrador and Newfoundland, rural and urban. So it's definitely going to be survival of the fittest, if you will."

Burden, meanwhile, said that if she was premier, the first order of business would be to open the house more often.

"Why are we waiting for more problems to start before we open the house and start debating them?" she asked.

Parliamentarian Evan Moffatt appreciated the irony of the situation.

"It's a little interesting when the youth of this province are more willing to debate than the people who we are paying to do this," Moffatt said.