Winnipeg high school students cast a ballot in mock election
The school is one of many across Canada participating in Student Vote, a mock election to introduce them to the process.
Grade 8 student Aaron-Marwinn Anoh said the process is 'preparing me for when I'm going to vote, and how I'm going to choose — what to look at, how to dig deeper and research on the people I'm voting for.'
A group of students from Grades 7 to 9 have set up their social studies classroom like a polling station, complete with ballot boxes and private voting booths. They check the IDs of their fellow students, keep a list of electors, and monitor the voting process like Elections Canada workers do.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Wyatt Reyes, a Grade 7 student, is acting as the central poll supervisor in charge of initialling the ballots and tallying them on election day. He says they've been studying the parties and the local candidates so they can make an informed decision.
Story continues below advertisement
'We've also been researching what the candidates believe in, what we believe in, and where we align with the parties.'
Reyes says he developed an interest in politics from a young age, and he's not the only one.
'My parents have been really good about educating me on politics and what's going on in the world right now,' says Aubrey Di Lullo, in Grade 8. 'And I like debating and stuff, I like having debates.'
Education, human rights and immigration are just a few of the issues they've been discussing in class, which will play into their decisions in the voting booth.
Social studies teacher Alana Ollinger says the goal of Student Vote is to encourage critical thinking.
'I feel confident that these young people are going to be really engaged adults,' says Ollinger. 'They're engaged now, they're observing the world around them.'
After the votes are tallied, they'll learn what kind of government Canada's students elected, down to how many votes each candidate received. And when they eventually cast a real ballot, the decision won't be so intimidating.
'It helps you know what to do instead of being clueless and having to rely on other people who can persuade your votes,' says Grade 7 student Adetooni Adegoke.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ranger fired for hanging transgender flag in Yosemite and park visitors may face prosecution
A Yosemite National Park ranger was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan while some visitors face potential prosecution for alleged violations of protest restrictions that have been tightened under President Donald Trump. Shannon 'SJ' Joslin, a ranger and biologist who studies bats, said they hung a 66-foot wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall that looms over the California park's main thoroughfare for about two hours on May 20 before taking it down voluntarily. A termination letter they received last week accused Joslin of 'failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct' in their capacity as a biologist and cited the May demonstration. 'I was really hurting because there were a lot of policies coming from the current administration that target trans people, and I'm nonbinary,' Joslin, 35, told The Associated Press, adding that hanging the flag was a way to 'tell myself … that we're all safe in national parks.' Joslin said their firing sends the opposite message: 'If you're a federal worker and you have any kind of identity that doesn't agree with this current administration, then you must be silent, or you will be eliminated.' Park officials on Tuesday said they were working with the U.S. Justice Department to pursue visitors and workers who violated restrictions on demonstrations at the park that had more than 4 million visitors last year. The agencies 'are pursuing administrative action against several Yosemite National Park employees and possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alleged to have violated federal laws and regulations related to demonstrations,' National Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said. Joslin said a group of seven climbers including two other park rangers hung the flag. The other rangers are on administrative leave pending an investigation, Joslin said. Flags have long been displayed from El Capitan without consequences, said Joanna Citron Day, a former federal attorney who is now with the advocacy group Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility. She said the group is representing Joslin, but there is no pending legal case. On May 21, a day after the flag display, Acting Superintendent Ray McPadden signed a rule prohibiting people from hanging banners, flags or signs larger than 15 square feet in park areas designated as 'wilderness' or 'potential wilderness.' That covers 94% of the park, according to Yosemite's website. Parks officials defend restriction on protests Parks officials said the new restriction on demonstrations was needed to preserve Yosemite's wilderness and protect climbers. 'We take the protection of the park's resources and the experience of our visitors very seriously, and will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences,' Pawlitz said. It followed a widely publicized instance in February of demonstrators hanging an upside down American flag on El Capitan in the wake of the firing of National Park Service employees by the Trump administration. Among the small group of climbers who helped hang the flag was Pattie Gonia, an environmentalist and drag queen who uses the performance art to raise awareness of conservation issues. For the past five years, Gonia has helped throw a Pride event in Yosemite for park employees and their allies. She said they hung the transgender flag on the granite monolith to drive home the point that being transgender is natural. Trump has limited access to gender-affirming medical treatments, banned trans women from competing in women's sports, removed trans people from the military and changed the federal definition of sex to exclude the concept of gender identity. Gonia called the firing unjust. Joslin said they hung the flag in their free time, as a private citizen. 'SJ is a respected pillar within the Yosemite community, a tireless volunteer who consistently goes above and beyond,' Gonia said. Jayson O'Neill with the advocacy group Save Our Parks said Joslin's firing appears aimed at intimidating park employees about expressing their views as the Trump administration pursues broad cuts to the federal workforce. Since Trump took office, the National Park Service has lost approximately 2,500 employees from a workforce that had about 10,000 people, Wade said. The Republican president is proposing a $900 million cut to the agency's budget next year. Parks have First Amendment areas Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. Pawlitz said numerous visitors complained about unauthorized demonstrations on El Capitan earlier in the year. Many parks have designated 'First Amendment areas' where groups 25 or fewer people can protest without a permit. Yosemite has several First Amendment areas, including one in Yosemite Valley, where El Capitan is located. Park service rules on demonstrations have been around for decades and withstood several court challenges, said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers. He was not aware of any changes in how those rules are enforced under Trump. ___ Associated Press journalist Brittany Peterson contributed reporting from Denver.
Global News
5 hours ago
- Global News
5 Canadian military members suspended over video showing Nazi salute
Five members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been suspended and military police are investigating after a video surfaced showing a group of people giving Nazi salutes. The commander of the army, Lt.-Gen. Michael Wright, called the video's contents disturbing and said that hate and extremism 'have no place in the Canadian Army.' 'I am deeply disturbed and profoundly disappointed with the content of the video — the behaviour is completely unacceptable, and swift action will be taken,' Wright said in a statement provided to media. The commander said a member of the public shared the video with the military, which shows at least seven individuals, five of whom have been identified as serving members of the Canadian Army. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The video footage was taken in 2023 and also shows an individual performing drill in front of the Royal 22e Régiment flag and 'consuming a substance.' Story continues below advertisement Wright said he learned about the video on Aug. 6 and quickly referred the matter to military police. Wright warned that such hateful conduct hurts the military's ability to 'recruit the best of Canada, to maintain credibility to deliver on operations, and it erodes public trust in our institution.' 'Canadian Army members who jeopardize that trust and participate in hateful conduct will face the consequences of their actions,' he said. Some experts have pointed to a need for the military to step up screening practices to weed out extremists. Earlier this summer, the RCMP laid terror charges against members of the Canadian Armed Forces in Quebec over an alleged plot to form an anti-government militia and seize land. The RCMP described that case as one of 'ideologically motivated violent extremism.' The dozens of weapons seized in that case, including explosives, assault rifles and a large stockpile of ammunition, are believed to be the largest weapons cache ever recovered in a terrorism incident in Canada. RCMP charged two active members, Cpl. Marc-Aurèle Chabot and Cpl. Matthew Forbes, and two former members, Simon Angers-Audet and Raphaël Lagacé.
Global News
5 hours ago
- Global News
Metro Vancouver's pricey PNE exhibit is back. Is it worth it?
The Pacific National Exhibition is back in Vancouver — and with it, a controversial exhibit put on by the Metro Vancouver Regional District. Visitors to the Metro exhibit are treated to free popcorn, family-friendly games and performances with an educational focus on key services, including water and sewage treatment. They can also enter a contest to win an e-bike and participate in a dance-off with Metro Vancouver mascots Pee and Poo (yes, really). Putting on the exhibit during the two-week fair comes with a $450,000 price tag, a cost that has critics like New Westminster Coun. Daniel Fontaine calling foul. 2:07 Metro Van breaks down $580K PNE bill 'I can tell you from the amount of taxpayers that I've talked to in the last number of days about this, they're feeling pretty crappy,' he said. Story continues below advertisement 'Metro Vancouver is facing a huge financial crunch. With the massive cost overruns at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant and to be spending now nearly half a million dollars on a booth that is by all accounts questionable in terms of its information that it's providing to the public, it should just end.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The cost of the exhibit includes a $98,000 sponsorship fee, which Fontaine said seems unnecessary for an organization like Metro Vancouver that already has a monopoly on the services it provides. He added that other public sector exhibits at the fair, TransLink and BC Hydro among them, have a much smaller footprint comparatively. In a statement, Metro Vancouver said its exhibit is popular with attendees, drawing about 90,000 visitors over the course of the PNE. 'Reaching the public this way is more cost effective than some open houses, and the level of engagement is deep,' the statement reads. 'When people visit us at the PNE, they see how the small actions they take every day connect them to a huge network of vital services and infrastructure provided by Metro Vancouver. This includes clean air, waste reduction, water conservation, and affordable rental housing.' Fontaine, however, argued that any booth set up at the PNE will have 90,000 people walk by and questioned whether people were really engaging with the exhibit as much as Metro Vancouver says. Story continues below advertisement 2:25 FOI report shows more of Metro Vancouver's PNE spending 'People go to the PNE to go on the rides, they go to get the amazing deep-fried Mars bars and see the dog show and the concerts,' he said. 'I highly doubt that many people are going to the PNE with the expectation that they're going to learn about sanitation and toilet flushing and water drinking.' This year's exhibit comes as the regional district continues to face questions about the beleaguered North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, now an estimated $3 billion over budget. Late last month, the Metro Vancouver board voted to shelve a review of the sewage plant, citing ongoing litigation with the plant's former contractor.
