More than one way to measure youth engagement

How many young Quebecers will be paying attention when the provincial budget is tabled Tuesday? Perhaps many more than you think.

Civix-Québec recently conducted a budget consultation that asked 2,000 high school and CEGEP students from 50 schools to weigh in on their public spending priorities. The national non-partisan, non-profit organization is devoted to educating youth about the basics of democracy and boosting young people’s political engagement, in a way that is fun, relevant and interactive.

The Quebec student budget consultation provided short video tutorials on the basics of public finance, such as the difference between a surplus and a deficit.

It also offered opinions from political journalists (including yours truly on the English site) and messages from representatives of Quebec’s four main political parties about what they hope to see on Tuesday.

Students were then invited to fill out an online survey to share their own ideas for the budget.

The results have been tabulated, and 75 per cent want to see public spending boosted in health care, 61 per cent want to see more investment in education and 61 per cent want to see greater funding for environmental protection. Sixty per cent also think paying down the provincial debt is important, while 55 per cent agree the budget should always be balanced.

Also, 59 per cent said they’d rather pay higher taxes and have more government services, versus 41 per cent who said they’d prefer lower taxes and fewer services.

The brilliance of the student consultation is that it not only helps demystify the budget process for young Quebecers, it seeks their input on issues that affect them.

Today’s younger generations have a bad rap for being disinterested in politics, government, current events and civic issues.

A 2013 Statistics Canada study confirmed a trend prevalent in many western democracies of declining voter participation among youth.

Examining turnout from the 2011 federal election and surveying future intentions, it found that 47 per cent of 15- to 19-yearolds and 61 per cent of 20- to 24-year-olds planned to cast ballots in upcoming elections, compared to 84 per cent of seniors in the 65-to-74 age bracket.

However, the research also pointed out: “Exercising the right to vote, although very important in a democracy, is not the only form of political participation . ... Low voter turnout among Canadian youth should not necessarily be considered a sign of voter apathy. In fact, the relatively low turnout may be masking many other types of engagement — both political and civic.”

Indeed, younger generations tend to be as likely as their elders, if not more so, to sign a petition or march in a demonstration. They tend to care deeply about environmental, social and human rights causes. And they are often more mature, media savvy, technologically inclined and self-aware than their forebears.

Nevertheless, an informed and involved electorate is essential to the future of democracy. Thus, a number of initiatives have been launched in recent years in hopes of educating youth about the basics of government.

Many cities, like New York, conduct participatory budgets — different from budget consultations — which set aside a portion of real public money for youth to help decide how to spend.

In last fall’s municipal vote, Élection Montréal set up mini ballot boxes at 19 polling stations inviting children to cast votes on what was important to them: pools, public transit, libraries or parks. The pilot project may be expanded for the 2021 election.

Civix runs “democracy boot camps” across the country, tries to connect students with their elected representatives and seeks young people’s input on current issues. It will be running a parallel youth vote when Ontarians go to the polls in June. This was the first student budget consultation held in Quebec.

There is evidence these efforts do succeed in drawing youth into the civic arena. Celina Su, a political scientist at City University of New York who worked on NYC’s participatory budget, wrote in the Washington Post that young people are more likely to be engaged if their friends are involved in political causes and if such activities are fun.

But there are also indications a more spontaneous political awakening among young people is already underway. In response to the world’s polarized climate, inspirational leaders who are better at connecting with youth and the high-stakes issues humanity and the planet are facing, youth — who crave meaning in their democratic participation, according to the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy — may be tuning in, even if traditional politics turns them off.

A study by Abacus Data commissioned by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations declared the birth of a new electoral “powerhouse” in the 2015 federal vote that helped bring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals to office.

“Turnout increased upwards of 12 percentage points among the youngest cohort of potential voters, and young voters coalesced around one political party and leader unlike in the past decade,” it noted.

The phenomenon may be as true on the right as the left. Though 2008 was dubbed the “year of the youth” for the unprecedented number of young people who helped propel Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency, the Brookings Institution found that the 2016 primary season saw youthful voters, both Republican and Democrat, break participation records.

Writing in the Guardian, a British millennial noted that after growing up at a time when parties were fighting to occupy political centre, a new reality dawned the morning after the Brexit referendum. The polarization of the political spectrum may compel youth to become more active, he argued.

Most recently, the teenage survivors of the Parkland, Fla., mass shooting have exerted their political force, showing they are capable of bringing change on gun control that adults have failed to deliver. Hundreds of thousands marched in Washington, D.C., Saturday in solidarity, as well as in cities like Montreal.

And let’s not forget that in 2012, young people demanding lower tuition ignited a revolution in Quebec. The Printemps Érable helped oust a government and launch a new generation of political leaders.

From budget consultations to the streets to the legislatures, today’s young people are ready to be heard.