Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan was the guest speaker at a Saskatchewan Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (SYPE) Sunrise Chapter luncheon Wednesday at Captain's Hall.

SYPE Sunrise Chapter is a grassroots, volunteer-driven initiative in southeast Saskatchewan to promote businesses and opportunities to youth.

Duncan, who was first elected to legislature in 2006, was only 26 years old at the time. He spoke about his experiences as being one of the youngest members of the Legislature in the province.

Duncan said that his love for politics actually started when he was in elementary school and his class took a tour of the Legislature. He vividly remembered touring through the building, but it was his mother who remembered him coming home and saying "I'm going to work there some day."

"Through my school years I had a number of teachers that identified my interest and encouraged it," said Duncan.

His first taste of politics came in 1997 during a federal election. Duncan was in Grade 12 and helped with one of the campaigns.

"I had an idea of which way I was leaning before I was old enough to vote," Duncan said.

One piece of advice Duncan gave for those who are interested in politics is to simply get involved.

"Pick any campaign. Once you get involved, I've found that you will enjoy it," Duncan said.

From there, Duncan went to Regina to go to university. Some of his university friends had connections with the Saskatchewan Party , so he was able to get his foot in the door right away.

Duncan went on from there to help organize a Sask. Party Youth Convention. They were hoping to get the party leaders at the time, Elwin Hermanson, as their guest speaker. As it turned out their guest speaker was a young MLA from Swift Current named Brad Wall.

When Duncan first decided to run for MLA, he was debating whether his age would be a factor in the campaign. He wasn't sure if people were going to take a 26-year-old person seriously.

"I quickly found out that it wasn't an issue," Duncan said.

Duncan also addressed a few of the challenges he faces as a MLA, particularly living a public life. First and foremost, one of the challenges is dealing with many personal situations with his case work and leaving his work at the office at the end of the day and not bringing it home with him.

He added that his job isn't always 9 to 5, because of special events such as lunches, banquets and weekend events, not to mention the traveling involved for these events and sitting at the Legislature.

With such a public life, Duncan has also found that free time with his family has to be protected. In a city like Weyburn, it is hard for him to go shopping or out for dinner without someone recognizing him.

On the other hand, Duncan doesn't mind stopping to talk with people because it is an opportunity to get in touch with his the people in his riding. He recalled a convention he went to for first-time provincial and state representatives in the mid-west of Canada and the United States.

Duncan remembered meeting a representative from Iowa who had a riding similar to Weyburn-Big Muddy and a representative from Minnesota, who has a lot bigger riding. The Iowa representative and Duncan saw a lot of similarities when going out in public while, for the Minnesota representative, it was a lot different.

"He said, 'I would love to have that. When I go out no one knows who I am'," Duncan said.

The overall message Duncan wanted to get across was to not let age be a barrier. Because he decided to get involved in politics, Duncan feels he has opportunities that not many others get to have.