While there are still votes to be counted in the B.C. provincial election, it seems students and eligible voters were thinking along the same lines.
Young voters of tomorrow from 700 elementary and high schools cast a ballot in Student Vote B.C. last week and elected John Horgan and the BC NDP to form a majority government, with 59 out of 87 seats and 40 per cent of the ballots – just like the real world, but with a few differences.
In the official election, the NDP have so far won 55 seats, an increase of 14, BC Liberals have won 29 seats and the Greens have held on to three seats.
The big difference, youths preferred the BC Green Party over the BC Liberal Party, giving the Greens 17 seats and the Liberals 12. Students also gave one seat to the Conservative Party and one seat to the Christian Heritage Party.
Students across North Vancouver were eager to cast their ballots last week, and managed to vote in the exact same candidates in each riding as eligible voters.
North Vancouver-Lonsdale NDP incumbent Bowinn Ma proved popular in both the student vote and the official election, keeping her seat with big wins.
Students at 14 schools voted in the Lonsdale riding, re-electing Ma with 45.73 per cent of the votes. BC Green Party candidate Christopher Hakes received 33.65 per cent of the votes and Lyn Anglin had 20.62 per cent.
Similarly, at the end of counting ballots on Saturday night in the official election, Ma finished with 9,533 votes or 58.11 per cent of the total. The BC Liberals’ Lyn Anglin finished with 4,662 (28.42 per cent). And BC Green Party candidate Christopher Hakes took 2,211 (13.48 per cent).
Over in the North Vancouver-Seymour riding, a whopping 18 schools had students cast a ballot, also electing the BC NDP’s candidate, but it was close. The BC NDP’s Susie Chant came away with the win with 38.64 per cent of the votes, followed closely by BC Green Party candidate Harrison Johnston with 36.48 per cent, BC Liberal Party candidate Jane Thornthwaite received 20.87 per cent, while Libertarian Clayton Welwood had a dismal 4.02 per cent of the votes.
In the official election, Chant finished Saturday evening with 7,353 votes – just over 45 per cent of ballots cast on election day and in advance polls – to defeated MLA Thornthwaite’s 5,804 votes – just under 36 per cent.
In West Vancouver Vancouver-Capilano, students from 10 schools voted and it was a landslide win for BC Liberal Party’s Karin Kirkpatrick with 43.58 per cent of the votes. BC NDP candidate Amelia Hill came in second with 28.46 per cent, BC Green Party candidate Rasoul Narimani had 23.97 per cent and independent Anton Shendryk barely got looked at with 3.99 per cent of votes.
Ballots from Saturday’s official election had Kirkpatrick finish the evening with 7,700 votes, or 54 per cent of the vote, compared to 4,114 votes for the NDP and 2,309 for the Greens.
Last but not least, students from 18 schools from across the West Vancouver Sea-to-Sky riding decided it was time to give the BC Green Party a go, electing Jeremy Valeriote with 44.45 per cent of the vote. The BC Liberal Party’s Jordan Sturdy was knocked off his seat in the legislature, only receiving 30.34 per cent of the vote. While the BC NDP had many wins in other ridings, it wasn’t Keith Murdoch’s time to shine, according to students; he only received 25.21 per cent of the votes.
In the official election, things are looking very much the same, while there are still votes to be counted, Green candidate Jeremy Valeriote has been projected to win the seat. He was leading with 6,872 votes, about 40.18 per cent of the vote.
More than 85,000 students cast ballots, representing all 87 electoral districts in the province in the 2020 Student Vote B.C. The CIVIX initiative gives students a lesson in provincial politics and a chance to debate the future of the province.
Elisia Seeber is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
