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Port Alberni high school students to host all candidates meeting for B.C. election

All candidates meeting will be livestreamed on Oct. 8, 2024
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Students in Anne Ostwald's Theatre 11/12 class create some posters for the upcoming all candidates meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

They may not be able to vote yet, but high school students in Port Alberni are getting involved with the upcoming provincial election by hosting an all candidates meeting.

Anne Ostwald's Theatre 11/12 class will be hosting a provincial all candidates meeting at the Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS) Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 8 from 10:15-11:30 a.m. Students will grill the Mid Island-Pacific Rim candidates with prepared questions and find out where they stand on issues that are important to Port Alberni youth.

"We may not be able to vote, but we get to influence people who can vote," explained Lauren Salmon, one of the students in Ostwald's class.

"It's definitely important that kids our age start finding an interest in politics, because we're going to be living with the world and the choices that are made," added her classmate Josi McInroy.

The theatre will be filled with students from ADSS, as well as a couple of classes from North Island College —and even some elementary school students, as well. But the event is also open to any members of the public who want to learn more about their provincial candidates. Another student, Helio Schmor, says the event will be interesting both to ADSS students and the broader community.

"A lot of questions will be asked to candidates, and it demonstrates what they have to offer," said Schmor. "It's actually going to be quite entertaining."

Ostwald's class has been preparing for the event by researching each of the candidates in order to understand what their platforms are. But the all candidates meeting should be educational for the candidates, as well.

"It helps our politicians understand what the future generation of voters wants to see," said McInroy.

Although most high school students aren't able to vote yet, a mock Student Vote is conducted each election year. During the 2020 provincial election, the B.C. NDP won the Student Vote with almost 40 percent of the vote. The B.C. Green Party was the official opposition, receiving 28 percent of the popular vote — a dramatic departure from the real election, which saw the B.C. Liberal Party in the role of official opposition.

"The student vote reflects on the different priorities between adults and youth," said Schmor. "It shows that the youth should have a voice, but they tend to get ignored because they're younger."

This is not Ostwald's first year helping her students organize an all candidates meeting. Usually the event is hosted by her Social Justice 12 class, but the responsibility fell to the Theatre 11/12 students this semester, instead. Salmon, Schmor and McInroy say that many of the techniques of theatre also apply to an all candidates meeting — such as stage direction, light and sound and structuring a script and memorizing it.

"The difference is we're presenting people, instead of a story," said McInroy.

The all candidates meeting at the ADSS Theatre is open to the public, but it will also be livestreamed for those who cannot make it in person. To watch the all candidates meeting, visit www.YouTube.com/@albernisecondary.

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Elena Rardon

About the Author: Elena Rardon

I have worked with the Alberni Valley News since 2016.
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