If the teenagers of Penticton had their way, Liberal candidate Connie Denesiuk would be the Member of Parliament for South Okanagan-West Kootenay, barely edging NDP candidate Richard Cannings.
Even though most high school students aren’t old enough to legally vote, Penticton Senior Secondary School engaged in Canadian democracy by holding a school-wide election parallel to the Oct. 19 federal election.
There were 852 ballots cast among the student population of 1,192, which equates to a 71 per cent voter turnout (slightly above the national average of 68 per cent). Denesiuk garnered 273 votes, Cannings 231, Conservative candidate Marshall Neufeld 143, Green candidate Sam Troy 95 votes and 34 for independent candidate Brian Gray.
“(Denesiuk’s) policies and what she spoke about at the student debate went over really well with the youth here,” said Jozsef Varga, the Grade 12 organizer of Student Vote. “I think she had the most comprehensive policies involving marijuana legalization compared to Cannings who talked about decriminalization. She was also able to highlight her party’s approach towards education and tuition compared to Cannings – that’s why I think she won here.”
Varga said given the support for Liberals at Pen High, and Denesiuk’s articulation of the Liberal platform, students seem happy that Justin Trudeau won the election with a majority.
“And I think they’re also quite happy with Cannings winning in our riding,” he said. “A lot of students can appreciate that he’s a scientist and has a lot of education. Despite the fact that he’s not as well spoken as Connie, he’s still a very strong candidate, and I think they appreciate that. Although I think they would have been happy with either Connie or Cannings.”
To help the students decide, an all-candidates forum was held for students on Oct. 13. The results of the Pen High vote were likely skewed by Neufeld and Troy’s inability to attend. Students were more sympathetic to Troy’s absence who cited medical reasons, compared to Neufeld, whose decision to abstain was premeditated.
Varga believes that the school’s mock election had an effect on the results of the general election.
“It showed how Marshall was unwilling to come to a student forum, and his unwillingness to participate in the democratic process that way,” he said.
Regardless of which party or riding, Varga has trouble understanding the benefits of forgoing an all-candidates forum.
“Not talking to media and not participating in forums wasn’t a good part of any Conservative candidates’ campaign across the country,” said Varga.
Still, Varga is curious as to how much of an effect the school forum had on Student Vote, given that only a small portion of students attended, and he suspects that many student voted for the party most favoured by their parents.
“The students who attended definitely had a much better idea of who to vote for after the forum, but that was only about 200 to 250 of the students who voted.”
In addition to organizing Student Vote, Varga worked at the local Elections Canada office on election night, and said he was surprised by the number of people and effort that goes into counting.
Pen High was one of 6,000 schools around the country to participate in Student Vote, and in total, the results weren’t far off from the official numbers.
Of the 337 ridings which school’s participating, Canadian high school students also would have elected a Liberal majority government with 223 seats (188 actual). Similarly, the Conservative Party would serve as the official opposition with 69 seats (99); the NDP would have taken 40 (44); the Greens would have four seats (one), and the Bloc would have claimed one (10).
