GNS Students Get Out the Vote

September 24, 2021

Academics

GNS

The Junior, Middle and Senior Schools each held student-run polls and decided who they would vote for in the Canadian election. Both Senior and Middle Schools chose to elect NDP candidate Laurel Collins, while the Junior School selected Nick Loughton of the Green Party of Canada.

Here are the results of the Student Vote across GNS:

	Junior School	Middle School	Senior School
Hannah Hodson, CPC	15.85%	14%	12.12%
Janis Zroback, Community Party of Canada	3.28%	8%	8.08%
John Randal Phipps, PPC	3.28%	1.33%	4.04%
Jordan Reichert, Animal Protection Party of Canada	20.22%	2.67%	2.53%
Laurel Collins, NDP	9.29%	34%	41.92%
Nick Loughton, Green Party of Canada	33.88%	22%	11.62%
Nikki Macdonald, Liberal Party of Canada	14.21%	18%	19.70%

The polling stations were all run by students who helped educate their peers about how to vote and to help prepare them for when they turn 18.

A group of Grade 8 students helped set up voting booths that were accessible to students outside of the Middle School classrooms.

“I and my peers were leading classes to and from the voting stations so they could vote,” explained Lily Jakeman ’26. “It’s so important for us to hold a Student Vote so we learn how to vote in the future when we turn of age to vote. So, they know how the system works.”

The Middle School halls were filled with excitement as students were able to practice their democratic rights.

“Voting is a super important part of life in our country, so it’s important for students to get to know how to do that and why it’s important,” said Kate Marriette ’26. “My favourite part so far has been seeing kids that are excited, because some are really excited to vote which is awesome to see people who are happy to do that.”

Over at the Beach Drive Campus, the Grade 5 classes distributed ballots to the other grades, voted,and counted all the returned ballots.

“Leading up to the election in class we started talking about the people that were running, and this morning we saw the voting cards and learned how to fold them,” described Ainsley Pagett ’29. “My favourite part was putting the ballot in the box. It felt good.”

While it is still a while away until the Junior School students will be able to vote, Olive Winters ’29 said it’s important to learn about it.

“My favourite part of today was to vote and seeing other people vote because we can’t vote right now. It makes you feel older, which is fun and kind of grownup,” she commented. “It’s important to get out and vote because it’s a chance to not just share your opinion, but also tell people who you are because sometimes you don’t get a say in things but this is a chance to share your opinions, which is important.”

In the Senior School, the Gudewill Learning Commons was transformed into a voting area so students in Grades 9 to 12 could vote throughout the day. Prior to the election, a group of Grade 10 students in IB Individuals and Societies helped inform their peers about the different candidates that were running. They created bulletin boards that were accessible to all the Senior School students that explained the main ideologies as well as the views on prominent issues from the four major parties running in the area.

“We have talked about the parties in class, but I think it’s the first time we really dove deep into the research and gained more substantial knowledge of each of the parties, and get a better understanding of the party platforms and ideologies,” said Isaac Yu ’24. “It’s important to understand the different parties and how different political views work. With the Student Vote program we get to do that and get a realistic sense of how the voting process works.”

Being able to exercise the right to vote is important, and Kimi De Gea ’24 notes that it’s a privilege to take part in the country’s government and have our voices heard.

“It’s important that we are knowledgeable so we can make our own judgment in the future,” she said. “The problem with so many people voting now, and it’s also a reason a lot of people don’t vote, is because they are simply not interested or educated on the topic. So it doesn’t give them enough information to make judgments for themselves and who they want to vote for. So it’s really important that at a young age we start to develop our own ideologies and political views so in the future we are ready to make a difference in our country.”