More than 7,100 schools across Canada have signed up to participate in a student vote program, including 57 schools from the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (SCCDSB).
CIVIX and Elections Canada have teamed up to bring Student Vote Canada to classrooms, to allow Canada's youth a chance to participate in the federal election.
Dan Allan, CIVIX Chief Program Officer, said that schools across Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have been participating in Student Vote since 2004 for federal elections and since 2003 for provincial elections.
The program allows students to learn about democracy and elections in a hands-on way. They get the opportunity to research the parties and platforms and debate before casting ballots for the official candidates running in their school's electoral district.
Allan explained that participating in an election as students provides confidence and knowledge for the future.
"The importance of getting youth involved in the democratic process is to remove any hesitancy they might have towards voting when they are older," he said. "By experiencing it now in a 'practice' setting, it helps to remove the lack of experience as a potential future barrier."
The head of St. Patrick's Catholic High School's Social Sciences Department, Payton Jacklin, agrees that the hands-on approach is beneficial for teaching kids about politics.
"We know that experiential learning is the gold standard when teaching children," Jacklin said. "So, being able to experience what the voting process is like is one of the most important opportunities we can provide our students, even if we can't replicate the exact experience of going to a polling station."
Jacklin described the Student Vote Canada program as an extremely valuable learning experience, adding that it's a way to help students engage with something that may not feel relevant to their lives.
"Many students have been exposed to politics in one form or another. Many have heard about it at home, or through commentary on the news or social media," he said. "I hope that this experience encourages students to become better informed and think more critically about what they are hearing, or at least primes them to understand how important this is once they are able to cast a vote in the general election more broadly."
Jacklin stated that having informed, engaged voters in our communities is increasingly important, as voter turnout in Canada is relatively low.
"We have few formal opportunities to teach our students about how the Canadian government works," Jacklin noted. "Despite this, every single one of our students is affected by the politics of our country. As such, we need to capitalize on these moments in Canadian politics to foster the skills of and an interest in citizenship."
Canada's youth have been left-leaning in the last two federal elections.
In 2021, over 809,000 votes were cast:
• The Liberal Party won 118 seats and 24 per cent of the popular vote, forming a minority government. Justin Trudeau won his seat in the riding of Papineau.
• The NDP won 108 seats and took 28 per cent of the popular vote, forming the official opposition. Jagmeet Singh won his seat in the riding of Burnaby South.
• The Conservative Party won 88 seats and 25 per cent of the popular vote. Erin O'Toole won his seat in the riding of Durham.
• The Bloc Québecois won 21 seats and took 2 per cent of the popular vote. Yves-François Blanchet lost his seat in the riding of Beloeil-Chambly.
• The Green Party won 3 seats and 10 per cent of the popular vote. Annamie Paul lost her seat in the riding of Toronto Centre.
In 2019, almost 1.2 million votes were cast:
• The Liberal Party took 22.3 per cent of the popular vote and won 111 seats, forming a minority government. Justin Trudeau won in his riding of Papineau.
• The NDP will form the official opposition with 24.8 per cent of the popular vote and 99 seats. Jagmeet Singh won his seat in Burnaby South.
• The Conservative Party took 25.1 per cent of the popular vote and won 91 seats. Andrew Scheer won his seat in Regina-Qu'Appelle.
• The Green Party took 18.1 per cent of the popular vote and won 27 seats. Elizabeth May won her seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands.
• The Bloc Québecois took 1.4 per cent of the popular vote and won 12 seats. Yves-François Blanchet won his seat in Beloeil-Chambly.