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Jenna & Alexandra

Local and federal elections- What to know

by Sophia V.


On October 21, Canadians above the age of 18 will come together to vote a prime minister to govern Canada for the next 4 years by voting for a member of parliament.


How did the elections go last year?


In the 2015 federal election, the Liberal party won and Justin Trudeau became Canada’s prime minister. He won a majority government with 184 of the 338 seats (54.4%) and 39.5% of the popular vote. This is possible because the Canadian government uses a voting system called the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system. CBC explains this system, saying “in every riding, the candidate that wins the highest number of votes wins the right to represent that particular seat in the House of Commons. The winner does not need an absolute majority — i.e., more than 50 per cent of the votes cast in the riding.”

A riding is an electoral district; there are 338 ridings in Canada, which split the provinces and territories based on their population. Some Canadians dislike this system, because provinces with a higher population have more seats, and therefore have more control over the election.

In the 2015 West Vancouver elections, the Liberal party won and Pam

Goldsmith-Jones became West Vancouver’s Member of Parliament. She won with a majority vote of 55%.


CBC published an interactive web page with information about the results of the 2015 federal election, as well as all the local elections all over Canada, which can be accessed here.This page provides voting statistics, regional seat distribution, riding demographics, and the 2015 polling timeline.

For more election jargon, see this Canadian federal election glossary.


What does this mean for students at Sentinel?

On October 16th, a student vote took place. This vote has no effect on the federal elections, but it gives students an opportunity to experience the process of voting.



(Chad Hipolito/CP, James West/CP, Phillip Chin/Getty Images, Adrian Wyld/CP; Photo illustration by Liz Sullivan)





This primary federal candidates this term are as follows


Student Vote.ca has an abundance of resources for students, such as a video explaining the voting process and a video comparing the student vote results to the election results in 2015.

MacLean’s.ca released an article with an interactive federal election platform guide. This page provides information on the views of each candidate in terms of topics such as health, justice, housing, public safety & national security, energy, education and many others. This page condenses all the candidates’ promises in one spot and the article is constantly being updated.


What electing each candidate means, according to The Canada Guide.

  • Liberal (centre left): fiscally responsible, socially progressive, unrestricted abortion, LGBT rights, higher rates of immigration, free market economy, social programmes, combatting climate change.The Whig published an extensive article examining Trudeau's record during first term in office and how his re-election could affect the future of Canada.

  • Conservative (centre right) : lower taxes, less intrusive government, respecting traditional values, military, traditionalist views on controversial topics.

  • NDP (further left): more taxes on wealthy, environment protection, non-interventionist foreign policy, mixed economy.

  • Green (centre left): reforms of Canadian politics, outsiders’ opinions on controversial topics.

  • Bloc Québécois (centre left): separating Quebec from Canada.

  • People's Party (further right): “more conservative than the conservatives”, libertarian opinions.

To view current polls, see the Canada Poll Tracker.


The municipal candidates this year are as follows:

  • Liberal: Patrick Weiler (Website)

  • Conservative: Gabrielle Loren (Website)

  • NDP: Judith Wilson (Website)

  • Green: Dana Taylor (Website)

  • People’s Party of Canada: Robert Bebb (Website)

  • Rhinoceros: Gordon Jeffrey (Website)*

  • Independant: Terry Grimwood (Website)

*Please note: this is a satirical political party (one of their promises is to “make illiteracy the third official language of Canada”).

Elections.ca released a web page providing some information about the West Vancouver Sea to Sky candidates, but more information can be found on their websites.


We hope this article has informed you on each candidate’s policies. Although we as students do not vote, it is useful and beneficial to be prepared for the future in which we will, as being educated is an important component of making an informed decision in the voting booth.


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