Canora Composite School students were among the 12,000 students across the province who, despite being under the voting age, cast ballots for municipal elections as part of the Student Vote program.
The vote was taken on October 25, with 190 elementary and high school students from CCS voting. The results were announced the day after the municipal election voting day, on October 27 after tabulating results from 12,600 ballots from 169 schools in 58 municipalities.
According to information from CIVIX, the civic education charity that organized the Student Vote program, students were given materials to “learn about government and the electoral process, explore the issues and candidates, discuss the election with family and friends, and participate in an authentic vote.”
The program has been organized to encourage students to form good voting habits when they are eligible to vote.
Students in grades 10 and 11 especially focused on the democratic system and the right to vote, according to Katherine LeBlanc, CCS principal. They looked at the roles of government at various levels and also took a trip to visit the polls on election day in Canora.
“Those working at the election kindly answered questions and provided learning opportunities for the students. We would like to thank Michael Mykytyshyn for setting up this opportunity for the students,” LeBlanc said.
Canora Composite School students seemed to agree with the adult voters when it came to electing a mayor, with 131 students voting for Gina Rakochy and 59 voting for Glen Leson.
Students also elected four of the council members that eligible voters selected. CCS voted in Brent Pelechaty with 106 votes, Sheldon Derkatch with 102 votes, Bradley Gabora with 99 votes and Eric Sweeney with 98 votes.
The two councillors who students would have elected in comparison to the adult vote were Cory O’Dell and Gerald Wolkowski. These two, in fact, had the top two amounts of votes in the Student Vote campaign for Canora, with O’Dell and Wolkowski getting 139 votes and 134 votes respectively.
The two officials elected by Canora, Kerry Trask and James Trofimenkoff, got seventh and eleventh place in the student polls respectively. Trask won 68 votes and Trofimenkoff only won 49.
The remaining nominees and their votes were: Michael Fetchuk, eighth in the ranking with 66 votes; Robert Dorush, ninth in the ranking with 60 votes; and Sylvester Hrynkiw, tenth in the ranking with 50 votes.
LeBlanc said many of the students enjoyed the Student Vote program and were “very excited to get the opportunity to vote.”
Across the province, the creators of the Student Vote program have seen the program as a huge success.
“We have heard some amazing stories about how informed and engaged students became through the process. We would like to thank the dedicated teachers across the province for leading the program and fostering the habits of active and engaged citizenship among their students,” said Lindsay Mazzucco, chief operating officer of CIVIX.
CIVIX and the Student Vote program are dedicated to building the skills and habits of active and engaged citizenship among young Canadians, according to information from the Student Vote website. The program was offered free to participating schools.
