Canada PoliticsWinnipeg Grade 9 students run election campaign for teacher
Matt Henderson is running as an independent candidate in the riding of Winnipeg South Centre.
Unfortunately, not one of his incredibly dedicated team of 22 will be able to vote for him on Monday.
Henderson, or 'Mr. Henderson' as he's better known to his students, is a teacher at St. John's-Ravencourt in Winnipeg. His Grade 9 students are spearheading his campaign for election, and have wholeheartedly thrown themselves into the process.
"We'd talked about this for a while, as we'd been listening to CBC in the buildup to the spring election," Henderson told the Winnipeg Free Press online newspaper, The Sou'wester. "So, I challenged them to take this to the next level, thinking they wouldn't do it, but they did. Now we have a little House of Commons here."
The class runs all aspects of Henderson's campaign, ranging from marketing, developing platform issues and getting nominated as a candidate.
"It's been a really cool project, learning about how the government actually works," said student Jane MacDougall in the article. "I didn't know about getting nominations. A lot more work goes into it than I thought."
The Winnipeg South Centre riding faced controversy earlier this year when Tory MP Shelly Glover was accused by Liberal MP Anita Neville of making ageist remarks, allegedly saying the riding needed 'fresh blood.'
About a week later, Joyce Bateman announced her candidacy for the riding as a Conservative MP, upsetting many of her long-time Liberal supporters.
Henderson's students seem to be avoiding much of the controversy and mudslinging often associated with political races, instead focusing on the issues.
The students have outlined a platform on Henderson's website, www.henderson2011.ca, focusing on subjects like the economy, job creation, poverty, restorative justice and the environment.
While it may be a long-shot for Henderson to get into Parliament running against an incumbent, Henderson's students remain positive about their teacher's chances.
"We're getting some hits on our Facebook page and online, so it could happen," said student Grace McMorris.
"Anything can happen if you believe in it."
