Fifteen-year-old Ella MacArthur wasn’t sure who would win her vote for district councillor on Friday before Nova Scotia’s municipal elections.
But she knew exactly which name she’d put her ‘X” besides for mayor.
“Amanda McDougall … Because she is a distant relative of ours,” said the Grade 9 student at Riverview High School during a phone interview on Friday.
“She also sounds like she’s going to do a very good job. She sounds very professional.”
Along with 15 other schools in Cape Breton, Riverview took part in Student Vote during the municipal elections and held voting at the school. School Vote is an initiative by a non-profit called CIVIX created to teach youth about democratic institutions and their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Across Nova Scotia, 145 schools took part in Student Vote for the municipal elections and learned about the candidates’ platforms during the campaign.
STUDENT VOTE 2020 In Cape Breton, students voted in mock municipal elections on Thursday and Friday and here were their choices for CBRM council:
Mayor – Amanda McDougall
District 1 – Andrew Doyle
District 2 – Jim Dunphy
District 3 – Cyril MacDonald
District 4 – Steve Gillespie
District 5 – Christina Joe
District 6 – Glenn Paruch
District 7 – Ivan Doncaster
District 8 – James Edwards
District 9 – Kenny Tracey
District 10 – Matthew Boyd
District 11 – Darren O’Quinn
District 12 – Kim Sheppard
Participating schools had voting stations for students to cast their votes for candidates in their district as well as for mayor. During the campaign, students learned about the voting process as well as the candidates.
“(I understand about the voting process) definitely more this year. In previous years, we didn’t really talk about it in classes. This year, we focused on it more,” said 14-year-old Cohan Harries who has participated in other mock elections.
“It’s definitely a lot better that we get to participate now so we understand it a lot more when we have to (officially vote),” added MacArthur.
Over the past seven years, Riverview has participated in Student Vote and teacher Peter Murphy said they’ve done the program for all levels of government.
This year, due to COVID-19 health safety measures, mayoral candidates couldn’t visit the schools but Murphy said engagement is still there.
“We need to train students to understand how you vote, what it is to select your candidate, what it is to become a questioning citizen who wants to know more,” said Murphy, who said the Student Vote initiative is in line with what students learn in their citizenship nine class.
“The goal of that course is to … help students understand that nothing just happens. It’s citizens, it’s people, it’s everyday average Joes and Janes that make things happen in our community. So we have to become engaged if we want the community to change in positive ways.”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
