Well, the people of British Columbia have spoken! However, we’re still trying to figure out exactly what they said.
For me, Oct. 19 was a very exciting day. It was an incredibly close election, with so many twists and turns I felt like I was on the world’s geekiest roller coaster. We had major parties withdraw from the race, we had the balance of power shift in our Legislature, and we did it all in the midst of a torrential downpour.
Watching the results come in and the seat numbers swing this way and that, I thought to myself, “This must be what people who watch sports feel like.”
It was a strange experience, watching this immensely important event while lacking the ability to cast a ballot myself. Oh, how I wish I could vote! And I know I’m not the only teenager thinking that.
Young people in B.C. had an opportunity to make their voices heard with the Student Vote, which gave students all over the province their own election to see how they would vote if given the chance.
The results were quite interesting. The NDP won a minority government with 44 seats to the 40 seats that the Conservatives won. The biggest difference from the real vote was the Green’s nine seats in the Legislature, including leader Sonia Furstenau, who won her race in the Student Vote.
Nearly 180,000 students from elementary, middle, and high schools across the province voted in the Student Vote. There’s a win for youth political engagement! This is an excellent resource, because it encourages youth to engage in politics and lets everyone else know what’s important to us. And given the larger number of Green candidates “elected” to office, it’s safe to say that climate change remains top of mind for young people in B.C.
In my own riding of Langford-Highlands, the incumbent NDP candidate Ravi Parmar was re-elected for another stint in the Legislature. A former youth activist himself and the youngest MLA in the B.C. Legislature when he was elected in a 2023 byelection, Parmar has made youth issues, particularly the upkeep of our schools and the creation of new ones, a key part of his platform.
He also served as a trustee for Sooke School District 62 and later as the board chair. And he was first elected as a trustee at just 20 years old! This experience gives him a unique insight into the education system and a keen awareness of the problems besetting it.
When I asked him how he thought a minority government would affect youth issues, he seemed optimistic.
“I think this is a great opportunity for us to cooperate and work together,” he said, expressing a desire to work across party lines.
His advice for youth who want to get involved and use their voice?
“Question everything around you. Question authority – and do so in a respectful way of course – but find ways to be able to give back to your community and to challenge injustices in your community as well.”
He invites young people to reach out and engage with him, and he encourages youth interested in politics to “start paying attention to what’s going on around you.”
Good advice for us all.
We need more voices advocating on behalf of youth in the Legislature – and we need younger voices doing the work, as well. I would like to see more young people in politics, and more attention paid to youth issues like public education.
The public schools in this province are underfunded and overcrowded. Trust me, I go to one of them. Whenever I’m walking to my next class, I feel like I’m in the midst of a buffalo stampede. We don’t have enough teachers and our school buses aren’t able to reach everyone, so more kids have had to turn to public transit. These are the kinds of problems that affect youth, and we need to pay more attention to them.
To be frank, as a teenager, this election has me feeling a little nervous for the future. The rhetoric around this election has been quite polarizing, with Conservative leader John Rustad promising to “make life as difficult as possible” for the NDP if they do indeed form a minority government.
That’s not the kind of talk that leads to results for British Columbians, but it is the kind of talk that could cause another election. That may be what the Conservatives want, but it might not be what British Columbians want.
Election campaigns aren’t cheap. A lot of money gets spent on campaigning. So why waste that money? People have voted, they’ve chosen their government (probably), and politicians need to accept the will of the people.
Why not use that money for health care, housing, or the improvement of public schools? Use it for the betterment of the province, not political gain. Like it or not, the three parties in power will need to work together to get things done. They shouldn’t be trying to get in each other’s way. That does not benefit the province or its people.
Yes, the people have spoken. Listen to them, and work together. For the good of the province.
Gabriel Mackintosh is a student at Royal Bay Secondary School.
