Winnipeg high school students cast a ballot in mock election
Students at Gordon Bell High School may not be old enough to vote in Monday's election, but they want to be prepared when their time comes.
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
Ottawa Citizen
4 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Multiple Ottawa protests against Modi, Trump and arms for Israel
Article content Thousands of people attended protests across Ottawa on Saturday as Canada geared up for the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta. Article content World leaders are gather in the Rocky Mountains from June 15 to 17 to discuss geopolitical and economic issues. Among them is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who Prime Minister Mark Carney invited to the summit as a guest even though India is not one of the G7 countries. Article content Article content Article content Article content Modi's attendance at the G7 has sparked anger in Canada's Sikh community. Many were warned by police that their lives were at risk and have alleged for years that the Indian government is behind those threats. The RCMP also put out a statement last October linking India's government with 'serious criminal activity' in Canada, saying that activity posed a 'serious threat' to public safety. Article content Hundreds of Sikhs gathered on Parliament Hill on Saturday to protest against Modi's G7 attendance and Carney's invitation. Many wore brightly coloured turbans and carried kirpans, the ceremonial daggers or knives worn by initiated (Amritdhari) Sikhs. Some waved yellow pro-Khalistan flags, a symbol of the Sikh separatist movement primarily in the Indian state of Punjab. Article content The protest came two days after Global News reported that an Indian agent had former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh under close surveillance, prompting the RCMP to place Singh in police protection 18 months ago. Article content Article content Balpreet Singh, legal counsel and spokesperson for the World Sikh Federation of Canada, said Carney's invitation felt like a betrayal. Article content 'If there's a foreign government trying to kill your political leaders, you would think they wouldn't be welcome in your country, but it seems Prime Minister Carney thinks otherwise,' he told the Ottawa Citizen. Article content 'There's over a dozen Sikhs that are living with duties to warn, which means there are imminent threats to their lives from the Government of India … They can't be around their families, they can't be in public spaces. They have to change the way they live their lives, and this is just the past couple of years.' Article content Moninder Singh, another spokesperson for the World Sikh Federation of Canada, said Modi's attendance constituted a threat to Canada's sovereignty. Article content Top Canadian security officials have previously warned that India, China and Russia would try to illegally influence the 2025 federal election. The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections task force said India would use its network of allies and proxies to 'assert its geopolitical influence' and meddle in democratic processes.
Global News
4 hours ago
- Global News
Quebec Liberals elect former federal minister Pablo Rodriguez as leader
The Quebec Liberals have chosen Pablo Rodriguez to lead the party into the October 2026 provincial election. The former federal cabinet minister won the party's leadership contest today after two rounds of voting, beating out Charles Milliard, former head of the federation of Quebec chambers of commerce with just over 52 per cent of votes cast. 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 three other candidates vying for the top job — Karl Blackburn, Marc Bélanger and Mario Roy — were eliminated after a first round. Rodriguez told party faithful at a leadership convention in the provincial capital it was time to come together as Liberals and write a new chapter for the party. Rodriguez, who does not have a seat in the national assembly, will have to rebuild the party in the coming months if it is to have a chance of forming government. Story continues below advertisement The Liberals have for years been polling badly among francophone voters outside Montreal.
Global News
8 hours ago
- Global News
The Calgary Party proposes ‘no rough sleeping' zone around Stephen Avenue
One of Calgary's main political parties running a slate of candidates in the upcoming municipal election is proposing rules prohibiting overnight camping or rough sleeping near Stephen Avenue. The policy is part of an overall safety platform unveiled this week by The Calgary Party, led by mayoral candidate Brian Thiessen. The platform suggests the party would create 'no overnight sleeping zones,' and 'enforce rules prohibiting overnight camping or rough sleeping within a two to three block radius of Stephen Avenue.' 'These are human beings who feel unsafe, and so they sleep in public places so that they will feel safe from an overdose, from theft,' Thissen said Friday. 'That's overlapping with business owners and the public who want to enjoy these public spaces.' The rules around rough sleeping are limited in Calgary, with a section of the city's Parks and Pathways Bylaw that deals with camping/erecting camping tents in a park. Story continues below advertisement According to a city spokesperson, their Vulnerable Persons Team works with partner agencies to help people experiencing homelessness in finding a safe space to transition and out of the elements. In an interview with Global News, Thiessen said the party's platform focuses on providing housing first to address homelessness. 'You've housed people, you're treating them for mental health and addiction issues, and then you can get to the part which a lot of people start with, which is we want to get people off the streets,' he said. The party's downtown policy also includes measures to increase police presence downtown, crackdown on open drug use, panhandling near roadways, loitering in transit areas, and an expansion of mental health and addictions support. 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 'It's always tricky because you don't want to layer on tickets and fines to the unhoused and make it impossible for them to dig their way out,' Thiessen said. 'That discussion about bylaws has to happen in conjunction with community courts.' Wendy Irvine, who runs the Unicorn Pub on Stephen Avenue, told Global News her staff experiences social disorder issues daily. When asked about The Calgary Party's proposal, Irvine said she is supportive of cleaning up Stephen Avenue, but wonders about the impact. Story continues below advertisement 'Totally enforce it, but where are they moving into? For us at the Unicorn, we have the back alley, and that's where they all go,' she said. Global News reached out to several local homelessness advocates but did not hear back. The proposal echoes a letter, obtained by Global News, from 18 downtown business and property owners sent to the mayor, premier, city council, the province as well as municipal election candidates. View full screen View full screen View full screen View full screen Previous Image Next Image Close Modal Gallery 'When will we take action to address what those who live here already know — that Calgary is no longer the clean, safe and welcoming city of which we have always been so proud,' the letter said. Story continues below advertisement The letter recommends several proposals to expand permanent day and night shelter for the unhoused, improve safety in the downtown core and along Stephen Avenue, and reform of municipal bylaws to make it easier to enforce expectations of behaviour in public spaces. A 'no rough sleeping' zone around Stephen Avenue is also amongst the proposals. 'The amount of damages and things that we have been seeing and witnessing comes on the burden of obviously the building owners, but that gets transferred down to the tenants,' said Mark Garner with the Calgary Downtown Association. 'We can't just replace windows in one of the businesses down here and two weeks later it's broken. We've got to do something different.' According to the most recent citizen satisfaction survey, 94 per cent of respondents agree that the city should be doing more to address safety issues in Calgary's downtown. In its latest State of the Downtown report, the city noted calls for downtown safety response by peace officers, security guards and community partners are down 12 per cent since last April. Calgarians head to the polls in the next municipal election on Oct. 20.
