Canadians are headed to the polls for the federal election on Monday, April 28, and that included the students at Thomas Haney Secondary, and across the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District.
Their votes may not have counted toward electing a new government in Ottawa, but the student vote certainly counted to the Haney kids taking part in this exercise in democracy.
They filed into the library at Haney, spoke with student leadership volunteers to ensure they are on the voters list, went behind a screen to mark their ballots in secrecy, and then put their paper in the ballot box.
They chatted about the process along the way, with all of them saying it was a positive experience, that got them thinking.
"I would say it's worthwhile voting as a student, it's part of the learning process," said George Lindquist.
He said it stimulated conversations with friends about issues, such as the quality of job the Liberal government has done since they were first elected in 2015, or whether it's time for a change.
Mohammed Tuma explained that politics is a frequent topic in his family, so he's a teen who didn't need a lot of prompting to think about the issues.
"Usually I'm pretty interested in elections," he said, as he marked a ballot.
Cameron Rowley said he learned a lot about the candidates from hearing them speak during the campaign. In particular, he didn't like comments against so-called "woke" values.
"To be woke is to be woken to a problem that existed," he said.
Local students chose Conservative candidate Mark Dalton with 1,659 votes, for 42 per cent of ballots coast.
Liberal Angie Rowell received 1,160 votes, for 29 per cent; NDP Daniel Heydenrych received 612 votes, for 16 per cent; Peter Buddle of the Rhinoceros Party had 352 votes, for nine per cent; and Chris Lehner of the People's Party of Canada got 153 votes, or four per cent.
Teacher-librarian Megan Fulgueras organized the event, which teaches students about the practical process of voting, and she said "they like to have a say."
The votes were tabulated as part of a student vote that saw 900,000 votes cast at 5,900 schools across Canada. Fulgueras said it should help inform the parties about how they rate with young people.
"I hope they look at what their future voter are thinking," she said.
The Student Vote is run by Elections Canada and CIVIX, a charitable organization that aims to cultivate active and informed citizenship for a healthy democracy.
"It gets them engaged in the process of voting, and thinking about where their values lie," said Fulgueras.
Nationally, students would have elected a minority Conservative government, with the Liberal Party as the official opposition:
• Conservative Party, 165 seats, 36 per cent of the vote.
• Liberal Party, 145 seats, 32 per cent.
• Bloc Quebecois, 18 seats, 2 per cent
• NDP, 13 seats, 15 per cent
• Green Party, two seats, 7.5 per cent
