Granite Ridge Students Favour Younger Candidates

Jeff Green | Oct 26, 2022

Granite Ridge grade 9-12 students participated in a municipal election exercise last week, organised by Wade Leonard's grade 10 civics class.

“We used resources that were provided by CIVIX.ca . They sent us a great package of information and materials,” Leonard said.

The students had a chance to talk about the candidates and the issues, and they used the profiles published in the Frontenac News, plus their own knowledge about the election, and candidates, to prepare themselves for the vote, which took place on Friday, October 21.

“The level of awareness of the election was pretty high, I thought,” said Leonard. “The students know the issues because they ride the buses on township roads and know that the township maintains those roads. Municipal politics are the easiest to relate to, for the students.”

Because time was short, students voted for all the candidates in Central Frontenac, and the results were tabulated on the spot.

And the results were similar, but not the same as the actual results on election day. Candidates who are younger tended to do better with the students than they did in the actual election.

In Ward 1 (Kennebec) Jordan Chatwin received the most votes, and Cindy Kelsey and Isaac Hale were tied for second. In the official vote, Chatwin was 5th, Hale was 3rd, and Kelsey finished 1st.

In Ward 2 (Olden) Bill Everett was first and Danny Meeks second, the same result as the official vote.

In Ward 3, Craig Middleton received the most student votes, and Duncan McGregor was 2nd. In the official vote. Susan Irwin got the most votes, Craig Middleton was second, and Duncan McGregor 4th.

And in Ward 4, the students were of a different mindset than their parents. The students had Bob Brooks and Brent Cameron tied for first. In the official vote, Nicki Gowdy was first and Philip Smith second. Brent Cameron (3rd) and Bob Brooks (4th) were not elected.

Looking at the entire council, the student voted council and the actual council would have 4 of the same members and 4 different members.

Wade Leonard said that he is looking forward to organising another student vote in the 2026 municipal election.