Voting Days!

 Election fever is in the air!  In English 12, we are having some exciting debate days and of course, have discussed all the debates we've been enjoying in the last few weeks!  On Saturday, our provincial election will be held, but in these strange days of the pandemic, lots of people (including me) are voting in alternative ways -- I have always waited for Election Day to vote in the past (I calculated that I have voted in every election held since I was 18 -- that's a LOT of elections!!  I have never missed one) but this year, I wanted to avoid crowds, so my sons and I voted yesterday at the advance poll.  It was very orderly and only took us about 5 minutes.  My youngest son voted for the first time, so that was very exciting.  The people working at the poll applauded for him and gave him a sticker that said "lst time voter" -- he felt a bit embarrassed, but it is a big moment in a person's life and everyone was proud of him.  I remember my first time voting -- both my parents were very interested in politics and my mother was working at the poll and my dad took me there to vote and they were both very proud of me.  I was so excited that when I went into the voting booth, my hand was shaking and when I got out and thought about it, I wasn't sure I had voted the way I had planned!  So I am always careful to "check my work" when I vote nowadays.

We are having our student vote today and Thursday at the school.  Grade 8 and 9 students will vote at our onsite voting place in the C Lounge.  Grade 10, 11 and 12s will vote online.  Here is a link to introduce you to the candidates in the riding of Richmond-Steveston:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT2nIUDLWG8&t=4s  It is a privilege and a responsibility to inform yourself about the issues and the candidates and to exercise your franchise, which people in the past have struggled to attain.  Choose wisely.  You might not think it matters, but the people you choose to represent you have a great deal of influence on your life!  They are responsible for deciding about how schools are run, about how our hospitals take care of us, what laws we must obey, where we build roads, how we take care of our air and water, how many buses are on our bus routes, so many things we count on day to day.

Happy voting!