It's up to you now, Prince George. Today is the day adult residents head to the polls to pick our new mayor and city council as well as their new board trustees for School District 57.
The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Kelly Road secondary, Vanway elementary, D.P. Todd secondary, Malaspina elementary, Ron Brent elementary, Edgewood elementary, Blackburn Community Centre and John McInnis Centre.
Don't forget your identification. You will need to provide two pieces of ID - one of them must show your signature and the two pieces together must prove your identity and your place of residence.
Other than that, you must be at least 18 years of age, a Canadian citizen, a B.C. resident for at least six months and a Prince George resident for at least 30 days.
Tonight, the largest newsroom in northern and central B.C. will be applying its full resources on election coverage. Seven reporters and photographers will be working to provide immediate results, reaction and analysis on our website at pgcitizen.ca. We will have a live blog with reports from the field and Canadian Press stories from the other municipal elections across the province.
You can also follow all of our election night coverage on Twitter (@pgcitizen, #pgelxn).
Monday's Citizen will feature a full recap of the election, along with more reaction, analysis and a look-ahead to what the newly elected officials will be facing during their four-year mandate.
For those still not sure who to vote for, head over to our website and click on the Your Vote Matters tab to see: profiles of all of the candidates; our entire coverage of the election, going back to June when the two mayoral candidates announced they would be running; and more reasons why your vote matters.
More than 60 per cent of Toronto residents turned out to vote in their municipal election last month. The citizens of Prince George should be able to do better than that, particularly with so many important local issues our elected officials will be deciding over the next four years - tax rates, spending priorities and infrastructure investment, to name just a few.
There are so many reasons to care about this election and we've worked hard over the past six months to identify all of those reasons to vote and take part in this critical aspect of our democratic process through our Your Vote Matters campaign.
While there are many important factors that should bring residents out to the polling stations today, there is really only one reason to vote - your vote belongs to you and you alone. There is no right way or wrong way to vote, only your way. The candidates have made their pitches and it is now your turn to take action, to go to a polling station today and make your marks on your ballot.
Prince George, this will be your mayor, your city council, your school board.
Join with us and your fellow citizens today in helping to shape our future together as a community.
