Galt model parliament students weigh in on the federal election
There is nothing like an election to get people talking, regardless of whether or not they are of voting age. This past Wednesday morning, the students in Alexander Galt Regional High School’s enriched English and History program were immersed in the world of federal politics as they analyzed a recent leaders’ debate in small groups before discussing their observations together as a class.
Each of the groups focused on a different topic, with the options including the environment, polarization human rights and immigration, national and local leadership, indigenous affairs, affordability and economic security, a nonverbal analysis, and how the different leaders presented.
The conversation around climate change and the environment underlined the importance the students assign to that subject, while also pointing out the difficulties even a small group can have in trying to come up with functional solutions. In an echo of the national debate, students were of two minds about the idea of a carbon tax and how it might impact Canadians.
The subject of human rights revolved mainly around the Quebec government’s secularism bill. In this case support was much more firmly
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against Bill 21, with students arguing that multiculturalism is a fact of Canadian life and that the diversity it lends to society is valuable, rather than something to fear. There were at least two students, however, who shared concerns that allowing teachers to wear overt religious symbols at work might lead students to “not feel safe.”
The students charged with looking at the matter of national and local leadership in the debate pointed out that almost all of the leaders avoided the question, instead using the time allotted to push some other part of their agenda. They did, however, give credit to Green Party leader Elizabeth May for highlighting service as a key part of being a leader.
The conversation on Indigenous issues started out with a focus on the importance of preserving indigenous cultures and languages, but debate over what it means to protect and preserve a language quickly led the class down a tangent into provincial language politics and the age-old tension between French and English in Quebec. Although students eventually got the conversation back on track, this proved to be another subject where everyone agreed that the topic was important, but it was less clear what the best course of action would be moving forward.
The question of affordability and the economy led to a conversation about the politics of cuts versus the politics of action, and the fact that some parties take a “spend money to make money” approach, while others view overspending as a threat to a balanced economy. It also brought the issue of environmentalism back around with discussion about the Liberal decision to buy the Trans-mountain pipeline, a subtopic that inspired some students to refer to Justin Trudeau as a hypocrite.
For those groups whose focus was on body language and ways of presenting, the students were very critical of candidates’ lack of respect for one another and the movement towards more “Usstyle” attack politics.
“I don’t want the leader of my country to rely on putting others down to make himself look good,” one student said, pointing out that Andrew Sheer and Justin Trudeau in particular had a tendency to talk down about each other.
That activity was a precursor to the program’s Model Parliament, in which the students in the class will form their own parties, elect leaders, and work to try to pass bills in a manner similar to that of the Parliament in Ottawa.
Reflecting on Wednesday’s discussion, English teacher Meagan Mckinven said that although the students who come through the program each year always get to watch a debate, the level of engagement is always higher when the issues are current.
“It’s much easier in an election year,” the teacher said.
Michael Gearey, who was the model Parliament’s Prime Minister last year, said that the exercise really changed his way of looking at the world.
“It got me into the mindset of a politician,” the secondary five student said. “It helped me get into what’s going on.”
Gearey said that being the Prime Minister was a challenge not just in terms of putting good policies forward, but also in that the work of the party was on his shoulders
His parliament had three parties: the Liberals, Conservatives, and NDP, with membership split 16/10/6 so that power was balanced in a minority government scenario. Geary said that this really underlined the power of a majority government to him on days when a member of the opposition was absent for a vote, because it meant his party was able to pass some bills it never otherwise would have been able to.
Despite his political history, Geary is not quite old enough to vote yet.
“I don’t have a say yet, even if I think I should,” he said.
When asked who he would vote for in the current election if given the chance, the student said he would vote Liberal, but underlined the fact that one vote doesn’t tie him to that party in future elections.
“I believe in voting for values,” he said, “It feels like (Trudeau) has done a lot of what he promised.”
As for this year’s class not everyone weighed in on the question of who they felt had won the debate, but of the seven who did, six argued that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had set himself apart, while there was a general consensus that the Green Party’s Elizabeth May had failed to make a strong impact
The class will be having its own leadership debates in the weeks before Christmas. After the party leaders have been chosen, the model parliament gets going in earnest in the New Year.