By Emily Stonehouse

While Canadians took to the polls on April 28 to cast their ballot for Canada’s next Prime Minister, the students at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School did the same. The mock-election encouraged students to learn about the representatives across the board, and use their voices in a practice vote. While the votes do not contribute to the overall numbers racked up by individual political parties, it was an opportunity for students to cast their ballots and feel heard in a nation-wide conversation.

Put on in collaboration with Elections Canada, student votes were available in all 343 electoral districts across the country. On election day, 870,340 student votes were reported from 5,900 schools. There were also 30,453 rejected ballots.

For Hal High students, their votes had a different tone than the results of the federal election. Overall, there were 264 ballots cast, with four spoiled ballots. The Conservatives won with 145 votes, followed by the Liberals with 66, the Peoples Party of Canada with 28, and the New Democratic Party with 21.

Overall, the Canada wide results of the student poll ended with the Conservatives earning 165 seats and forming a minority government, followed by the Liberals with 145 seats, the Bloc Quebecois with 18 seats, the NDP with 13 seats, and Green landing with two seats.