Young people in Chilliwack-Hope have chosen Conservative Mark Strahl to represent the riding in Ottawa.
Those under 18 can’t vote, of course, but the exercise is part of Student Vote Canada 2019, that saw participation from 1.1 million elementary and secondary school students across Canada.
As of 2 p.m. ET on election day, 1,167,110 votes were reported from 7,747 schools, with results from 338 federal ridings. Results were released under embargo as they were not allowed to be reported until 7 p.m. B.C. time on Election Day.
Locally, the results matched the historical actual wins by Conservatives locally, if by a lesser margin. Of the 5,320 votes cast by students in the Chilliwack-Hope electoral district area, Strahl took 1,869 or 35.13 per cent. (In the 2015 election, Strahl won 42.33 per cent.)
But it was a nail biter for second place, which was won by Arthur Green and the Green Party with 1,183 votes (22.24 per cent) just ahead of the NDP’s Heather McQuillan’s 1,159 votes (21.79 per cent).
Liberal Kelly Velonis was a distant fourth with just 559 votes or 10.51 per cent. The People’s Party of Canada’s Rob Bogunovic received 322 votes or 6.05 per cent, more than a quarter of which came from Chilliwack Secondary School where he is a teacher.
Rounding out the results, both Dorothy-Jean O’Donnell of the Marxist-Leninist Party and Daniel Lamache of the Christian Heritage Party received 114 votes apiece, or 2.14 per cent.
In the Chilliwack-Hope area, 35 schools took part in Student Vote, a learning program of Elections Canada to teach students about the voting process giving them firsthand experience that includes ballot boxes and information on the local candidates.
After learning about the electoral process, researching the parties and platforms, and debating Canada’s future, students cast their ballots for the official candidates running in their school’s riding.
• READ MORE: Chilliwack students pick NDP government in mock election
• READ MORE: Lower Mainland school’s student election offers sweet lesson in politics
In the Canadawide results, the Liberal Party took 22.3 per cent of the popular vote and won 109 seats, forming a minority government. Justin Trudeau won in his riding of Papineau.
The NDP form the official opposition with 24.8 per cent of the popular vote and 98 seats. Jagmeet Singh won his seat in Burnaby South.
The Conservative Party took 25 per cent of the popular vote and won 94 seats. Andrew Scheer won his seat in Regina-Qu’Appelle.
The Green Party took 18.2 per cent of the popular vote and won 28 seats. Elizabeth May won her seat in Saanich-Gulf Islands.
The Bloc Québecois took 1.3 per cent of the popular vote and won nine seats. Yves-François Blanchet did not win his seat in Beloeil-Chambly.
The People’s Party of Canada took 4.19 per cent of the popular vote but not even leader Maxime Bernier won his seat.
@PeeJayAitch
paul.henderson@theprogress.com
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