If it was up to North Shore students, the outcome of Monday’s federal election would have looked much different.
More than 1.1 million elementary and secondary school students across the country participated in Student Vote Canada 2019 last week, a “mock”-style election set to coincide with the 2019 federal election.
Students learned about the electoral process, researched the parties and platforms, and debated Canada’s future before casting their ballots for the official candidates running in their school’s riding.
More than 17,000 students – representing West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, North Vancouver, and Burnaby North-Seymour – cast votes across more than 100 participating schools across North Shore ridings.
Although Liberal Patrick Weiler came out on top in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country last night, students participating in Student Vote Canada 2019 elected the Green Party’s Dana Taylor in their own parallel election with 34.27 per cent of the vote, or 2,653 total votes.
In North Vancouver, students went a different direction than adult voters who re-elected Liberal incumbent Jonathan Wilkinson, instead opting to elect Green Party candidate George Orr with 30.77 per cent of the vote, or 1,671 total votes.
And in Burnaby North-Seymour, where voters re-elected Liberal incumbent Terry Beech, students voted orange, selecting NDP candidate Svend Robinson with 31.73 per cent of the vote, or 1,474 total votes.
Student Vote Canada 2019 is a parallel federal election put on by Civix, a national registered charity that encourages young people to get involved in the electoral process.
Students at 112 public and independent schools in all three North Shore ridings participated in the vote.
While North Shore students would have voted in Green and NDP candidates, students across the country gave the advantage to the Liberal Party, mirroring the actual election results, by giving the Liberals 22.3 per cent of the popular vote and 110 seats, forming a minority government.
Click here to see more in-depth results, including individual results from local North Shore schools, from Student Vote Canada 2019.
