Calgary's 2025 Mayor for a Day pursuing medical school while advising federal bodies on youth policy

Kamran Shukoor, Calgary's 2025 Mayor for a Day, is balancing medical school with advisory roles on youth policy — and has just been named one of eight Alberta students to receive the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medallion for exceptional citizenship, leadership, public service, and volunteer work.

Shukoor said receiving the award is humbling. "All students in Alberta do incredible work, so it's really, truly humbling to be one of the top eight selected in this category," he said. He credits the real work as happening "in those rooms where decisions get made," pointing to a recent meeting with Mark Miller, the federal minister sponsoring Bill C-34, where he offered youth perspective.

Now a medical student at the Medical School of the Americas, Shukoor is actively working on research into gaming addiction in adolescents at a UCalgary lab, advising the RCMP on mental health and online harms for youth, and consulting with Library and Archives Canada. He sees medicine and politics as inextricably linked. "Medicine treats the body, and politics treats the system, and you really can't have one without the other," he said, pointing to healthcare debates in Alberta around a potential double-tiered system.

One issue he's focused on is digital literacy and social media restrictions for youth. "If we're going to ban kids under 16 from accessing social media, what happens when we turn 17?" he asked. "Are we going to release them into this world of addictive designs and harmful content with irresistible algorithms that they haven't been acclimated to?"

Shukoor will officially receive his medallion later this month.