Quebec High School students get taste of democracy at election simulation
QHS students get taste of democracy at election simulation
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
The Webster Auditorium at Quebec High School was transformed into a polling place on April 24 as students took part in an election simulation, co- ordinated by teachers Julie Bown, Gina Gauvin and Fannie Marsh as part of the nationwide Student Vote 2025 program run by Elections Canada and civic education nonprofit Civix. More than 800,000 students at 7,000 elementary and secondary schools across the country are expected to take part in Student Vote 2025.
Students from Secondary I to V discussed the upcoming election in class and received voters’ cards, which they ex- changed for ballots once they arrived at the polling place and were checked in by student volunteer poll clerks from Secondary II and V. The ballots, provided by Elections Canada, displayed the names of the candidates for the riding of Québec-Centre. To make the simulation as simple and inclusive as possible, students voted in Québec-Centre (where the school is located) regardless of their place of residence, and students didn’t have to be Canadian citizens to cast ballots. Other than the date, four days before the actual election, those were the only major differences between the simulation and the actual vote.
Although students were allowed to opt out for religious or philosophical reasons or spoil their ballots, voter turnout appeared very high – at any rate, higher than the 62.6 per cent turnout among adult voters in the 2021 federal election.
Student poll clerks Cédric G. Ratté, Emma Bolduc, Victor Sweeney and Ophélie Bernier said they were looking forward to voting once they turned 18. “If I vote, I’m making a choice that will impact the future,” Bolduc said. Students took the CBC Electoral Compass test – which asks a person a range of questions about social and economic issues and suggests the party whose platform lines up most closely with their responses; some took things further by talking to friends and family and researching the candidates on their own time.
The QCT didn’t ask students who they voted for, but on what issues they based their vote; students mentioned climate change, Canada-U.S. relations, the need for strong leadership and picking a candidate who fits their ideals.
“Voting is a right that we have, it’s like a duty … and one day, it could be taken away,” said Bernier, who appreciated the dress rehearsal aspect of the event, showing teens what an actual polling place looks like and how it works.”
“I heard that in the last [U.S.] election, if ‘did not vote’ was a candidate, they would have won,” Sweeney said. “It’s important to make our voices heard.”
Secondary III voter Sophie Lavallée said she thought voting was important “to show you care about who’s in charge.”
Quebec High School was participating in the nationwide simulation for the first time, after Marsh, Gauvin and Bown heard about it at a conference and were intrigued. “As a teacher, it has been so cool to witness how into it the students are,” Marsh said. “They have had lessons about democracy and elections, been encouraged to have discussions with their parents about whether they vote and about the democratic process. It gives me faith in the future of democracy.”
Student Vote results will not be released until after the April 28 election, to avoid prejudicing the vote. In both the 2019 and 2021 simulations, students around the country elected a Liberal minority government and the NDP edged out the Conservatives to form the Official Opposition.