Students from across the country propelled Liberal leader Justin Trudeau to victory — in a mock election that showed the political schism dividing Canadian electoral politics reaches all the way down to elementary school.
Upwards of 1.1 million elementary, middle and high school students from 7,747 schools across Canada’s 338 ridings took part in the vote, which was organized by Elections Canada and CIVIX Canada, a non-partisan charity designed to help young people engage in the democratic process and become informed citizens.
Here in the Tri-Cities, both NDP candidates won their ridings. In the hotly contested race of Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, Christina Gower took the seat with 29.54% of the vote, and in Port Moody-Coquitlam, Bonita Zarrillo won a more resounding victory with 33.2% of the vote.
Nationally, according to official results, the Liberal Party took 22.3% of the popular vote, forming a minority government with 109 seats. And while the Conservative Party won the popular vote with 25% support, it was held to 94 seats, shy of both a minority government and official opposition status. Winning 24.8% of the popular vote and 94 seats, the NDP vaulted over the Tories to become the official opposition. The Greens, for their part, took 18.2% of the popular vote, winning 94 seats.
All of the federal leaders won their seats, with the exception of Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet, whose party took only 1.3% of the popular vote and won 9 seats (a far cry from the party’s soaring polling numbers), and People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, who was narrowly defeated by a local Tory candidate.
In British Columbia, the Liberal Party was wiped off the electoral map, whereas the NDP won the most seats at 24. The Conservative party and Greens won 10 and eight seats, respectively.
Keep an eye on our election coverage here and here as The Tri-City News reports official results from our ridings and across the country.
