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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-05-03, Page 12PAGE 1:--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, MAY 3 , 1979 Electio BY JEFF SEDDON On May 22 when Canadians decide who the next prime minister of Canada will be students at St. Joseph's Separate School in Kingsbridge will be deciding who will be prime minister of the Grade 5 class. The Kingsbridge election may seem small potatoes to voters Dow trying to sift through the reams of material being fed them- by local and national candidates...but to the Grade 5 students it is a big deal. Like the three leaders in the federal election three candidates at Kingsbridge have until May 22 to convince their - fellow students to vote for them. Moral victories or picking up the odd classroom vote doesn't cut it in. Kingsbridge. Winning the election is what counts. Once the three can- didates were found and assigned to • a party election fever in Kingsbridge was off and running. Christine Stapleton was first to step into the spotlight. She had no difficulty deciding her preference and stood as the Liberal candidate. Ken Van Osch reluctantly agreed to stand as the Progressive Con- servative hopeful once same of -the party plat- form was outlined and his sister Sally picked up the New. Democratic flag to to decid complete the slate. No volunteers stepped forward to run Social Credit or Libertarian. Christine believes Pierre Trudeau is the best choice for prime minister of Canada claiming he is a "good leader". She liked Graeme Craig, Huron - Bruce Liberal candidate, once she met him and feels Craig can do "a good job in the House of Commons". Mary Lynn Doherty, Stapleton's campaign manager, said she joined the Liberal cause because she wanted to meet people. She said she was glad so far that she supported the Liberals but wanted to meet NDP candidate Moira Couper before making a final decision. Doherty said she felt the Liberals can "straighten out problems facing the country and will do what they say they will do". Ken Van Osch decided to run as a Conservative candidate because he felt PC policy would "appeal to the public more". He said he liked some of the PC policies when they were explained to him but can't remember now "which one it was". Van Osch said he was still happy with his choice after having met the Liberal -and. Conservative candidate for Huron- Bruce..ifIe said he felt Joe CIark would be a good leader for Canada and could come up with "the deal every province in this country needs". Van Osch said he felt Progressive Con- servative candidate Bob McKinley would be a good representative for Huron -Bruce because of his experiei)ce. But he added that he wasn't convinced that ex- perience alone would make him the best man for the job. Bill Card, the cam- paign manager in the Van Osch camp, said he felt 'experience should help the. PC candidate get along in Ottawa. He said McKinley "should be able to run the country". Sally Van Osch admits she knew little about the New Democratic Party platform before becoming • an NDP candidate. But she says she has watched newspapers -and television for information and feels a little more informed now. She says she can't abide by all the NDP policy she has heard. But she feels Ed Broadbent has been running a pretty good campaign and "would make a good prime minister". She adds, however, that "somebody else will probably beat him". Sally isn't sure how she'll deal with her disagreement with the some of the NDP policy. She says she has two weeks before an all candidates meeting at the school and has to use that time to "make up something". r Progressive Conservative candidate Ken Van Osch (left) talks over some cam- paign strategy with his campaign manager Bill Card in preparation for a May 22 election at St. Joseph's Separate School in Kingsbridge. (photo by Jeff Seddon) Project teaches students value of the right to vote BY JEFF SEDDON "If everyone voted the country would be run differently." "The country may not be run right because of one vote." Those were comments made by Grade 5 students at St. Jospeh's Separate School in Kingsbridge when asked if it was important for Canadians to vote. The students, most of whom won't get a chance to vote for another seven or eight years, may know more about the Canadian political 'system than their parents. At least they ' know the im- portance of their right to vote and right nowNhave every intention of exercising that right when they're permitted to. But the youngsters have no intention of being denied avote just because they're young. If the Country . won't . let them cast their °ballots there's only one thing to do. Have your own —election- and -t -e- heck with -- the adults. j That's exactly what the students are doing. The Grade 5 classroom at St. Joseph's is ordained with political signs, pictures of candidates and slogans designed to win the support of Grade 5,6,7 and 8 students at the school. Candidates have been selecte.d to carry the platform of the three major parties in Canada and on May 22 _ the students will go to the polls the same as the rest of the country. Except that turnout at the St. Joseph's polls will probably be 100 percent, something Canada will never be able to brag about. The election is a project that school principal David Zyluk claims lumps history, geography and current events together into one package, He says the format of the classroom project requires students to stay abreast of the real election campaign which is part of their- current events %curriculuin. Understanding the riding system in the country gives them some insight into Canadian.geography and the government _-process "they-tearirabout makes some Canadian history a little easier to understand. It's also fun for the kids. . Zyluk was a little hesitant about holding the school elections because of his own political opinions. He unveiled his politics when 'he ran in the last federal election as a New Democratic candidate. He was concerned that parents would suspect him of trying to win support for NDP and conceded that it may be difficult for him not to interfere with the project. But he and his staff felt the benefits of the project warranted going through with it. The principal said the election gives the children •an opportunity to develop an "open mind" politically. He said the election is designed to make the students aware that "they should at least think through party platforms" rather than supporta party because their parents do. . Normally the project would be.don.ejn several classes in the school but time didr}4 permit that. Rather than have each -elass--hold i-is-o-wn election Zyluk went to the Grade 5 class for candidates and had them campaign for their own class plus the, senior students. The May 22 election will be run by the book. The students will be enumerated, scrutineers will be appointed, returning officers selected, ballots drawn up and voting booths prepared. Candidates have been nominated and are now in the process of winning their seat. To better explain the system to the students Zyluk decided to bring the election to the students. Each of the three candidates in Huron -Bruce was invited to the school to speak to the children,' an enumerator has !Igen asked to come to the school to explain that job as well as scrutineers and returning officers. So far only the can- • &dates have made an appearance. The effects of that appearance were very interesting and may be food for thought for voters as well as politicians in Huron Bruce. 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