If local students had had their way, the red Liberal wave that swept across Canada during Monday’s federal election would have streamed across most of Burnaby as well.
More than 12,000 students in Burnaby and New Westminster cast ballots in Student Vote 2015, a parallel federal election put on by Civix, a national registered charity that encourages young Canadians to get involved in the electoral process.
The local student vote mostly mirrored the grown-up results in New Westminster-Burnaby, where students cast 1,033 ballots for NDP incumbent Peter Julian, compared to 798 votes for the runner-up, Liberal candidate Sasha Ramnarine.
Unlike the adults, however, students preferred Green Party candidate Kyle Routledge, with 507 votes, over Conservative candidate Chloe Ellis, with 451.
In Burnaby North-Seymour, student voters, like their adult counterparts, elected Liberal candidate Terry Beech, with 2,102, over NDP hopeful Carol Baird Ellan, with 1,248.
In that riding, students favoured the Conservative candidate, Mike Little, with 921 votes, over the Green, Lynne Quarmby, with 684.
One riding in which the youngsters didn’t follow their elders’ lead was in Burnaby South.
Unlike the 18-and-over-crowd, students elected Liberal candidate Adam Pankratz, with 1,524 votes, over NDP incumbent Kennedy Stewart, with 1,166.
Forty Burnaby public schools, four local independent schools and nine New West public schools participated in the vote, with some schools hosting all-candidates meetings as well.
Canada-wide, 850,000 students cast ballots at 6,000, voting in a massive Liberal majority government with 227 seats. The Conservatives won 69 seats, followed by the New Democrats, with 39.
