(submitted photo/studentvote.ca)

By Nigel Maxwell

Students vote

Student vote mirrors behaviour of parents

Oct 22, 2019 | 5:42 PM

Had Monday’s election been decided by the country’s elementary and high school students instead of adult voters, the results wouldn’t have varied much from last night’s results.

Student Vote Week, made possible by Elections Canada, ran from Oct. 15 to 18 across the country, and close to 8,000 elementary and high schools took part in the exercise. The end result showed the Liberals with 112 seats, followed by the NDP with 98 seats, and the Conservative Party with 93 seats.

“I really have confidence that these kids will take part in elections when they are of age” – _{Sheri Gunville, Vice Principal W.P. Sandin High School}

Closer to home in the Prince Albert riding, the students voted almost the exact same as their older siblings and parents. Randy Hoback who was formally re-elected Monday with 68 per cent of the vote, was also very popular among students with 42 per cent. Harmony Johnson-Harder (NDP) was second popular at 28 per cent, and both Kerri Wall (Green Party) and Estelle Hjertaas (Liberals) received about nine per cent.

(studentvote.ca)

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Approximately 271 ballots were cast at St. Mary High School. Jordan Carriere, the school’s senior history and law teacher, said students were well informed and educated themselves on the issues. The students were also given a quiz which helped identify for them which party they would mostly likely support.

“These are the people that will be voting [in the next election] and they will be informed individuals, not just people coming in and voting cause ‘This is what I’ve heard or this is what everybody else does,'” he said.

At Meath Park school, northeast of Prince Albert, Randy Hoback also was the most popular among the young voters, followed this time by Johnson Harder, Kelly Day and then Estelle Hjertaas. Teacher in charge Lori Zbaraschuk said she was not surprised the students voted NDP, noting there’s been a lot of backlash in the community to the carbon tax. She said students were impressed Jagmeet Singh had posted a “Tik Tok” video (social media app) that the kids all watched.

“He’s young, he’s relatable and for a lot of students, I think that charismatic appeal that he has probably swayed their votes toward the NDP as a second choice,” she said.

(studentvote.ca)

The results were almost the same at W.P Sandin High School in Shellbrook. Vice Principal Sheri Gunville said she was not surprised how close their vote was to the actual numbers, given how involved the Grade 10 and Grade 12 students were watching the English language debate and researching all the issues.

“I feel our student vote results was very informed and very in tune with this area’s actual perspective,” she said.

In terms of specific issues, Gunville said carbon tax and education were talked about the most by students. She explained she personally found the project very helpful.

“I really have confidence that these kids will take part in elections when they are of age,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell