BY NOAH SHEPPARD
With the 2019 Canadian Federal election right around the corner, the Sheridan College Journalism program is hosting a town hall for the Sheridan community. On October 17 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., students are invited to come to the Trafalgar campus and ask questions of a non-partisan panel.
The town hall is being spearheaded by the Broadcast Producing class in Sheridan’s Journalism diploma program. The professor of the class, Sherry Lawr, thinks it is important that young people understand the significant role they could play come election day.
“It’s an event that is aimed at helping young people understand the issues and understand why it’s important that they show their support. They represent 37% of the voting population this year in the federal election.”
The town hall will include debates, interactive games, and a sophisticated discussion about the questions asked.
“We’re trying to get pre-recorded messages from the federal leaders,” said TJ Dhir, a student producer of the event. “We’ve also gotten permission to use the CBC vote compass so we can really promote that and hope people use it.”
In preparation of the town hall, the Sheridan Sun will be posting polls about the big issues of this election. These polls can be found on the Sheridan Sun Twitter account and will be used for show producers to explore what students care most about when it comes to placing their vote in the federal election.
In understanding the issues, it is also important to understand the differences in the many ridings within the Sheridan community.
For example, data gathered using The Canadian Press election bot show that Brampton South is much more diverse than the riding of Oakville. Fifty-one per cent of the population are immigrants in Brampton South, compared to Oakville, where they only make up 33% of the population. There are also economic discrepancies. The average household income in Oakville is $106,000, while in Brampton South it is $75,000 (although this is still slightly above the national average). As well, Brampton South is more densely populated.
However, not every student will be voting in a Sheridan riding. If your permanent address is outside of the area, you can go to the Sheridan Conference Center between the 5th and 9th of October to cast a ballot for your home region.
The Sheridan Votes town hall will be streamed live on Sheridan TV, Sheridan Life Radio, and through The Sheridan Sun on Facebook. Cogeco will air the taped show on October 19th.