Give teenagers vote at 16
AT THE BALLOT BOX Young people are exposed to issues as never before, through the media, Internet and schools
Re Get them early, advocates urge Dec. 6. As it stands the Canada Elections Act allows only those over the age of 18 to cast a ballot in federal elections. Liberal incumbent MP Mark Holland says this should become an election issue. We agree. Now more than ever there is a pressing need to reverse declining voter turnout. In order to accomplish this, it is essential that we impress upon young people the importance of voting while they are still in school. We can most effectively persuade young people to vote when they are enrolled in civics courses. Information can be integrated into the curriculum, and organizations like ours will have the chance to campaign on the issue and to reach out to youth to encourage them to form lifelong habits of electoral participation. As part of our work, we at Leaders Today teach high school students about their rights and responsibilities as Canadian citizens. The fact is, 16- yearolds have important responsibilities in our country. They are deemed mature enough to make a variety of important decisions: They can legally drive, marry, join a political party, or drop out of school. They pay taxes when they work or purchase goods and services. They can be tried in adult court, or join the Canadian Forces Reserves. At 17, a young person can join the Canadian forces and be sent to war, and yet cannot elect the government empowered to determine foreign policy. The arguments used to justify denying 16- year- olds the right to vote mirror those historically used to withhold this same right from other groups on the basis of gender, race and ethnicity. The refrain is an all too familiar one — young people are allegedly not interested or knowledgeable enough to make well- informed choices. This is simply untrue. These days, young people are exposed to issues as never before, through the media, the Internet, and innovative social studies curricula in schools. When the Leaders Today team travels to schools, we are consistently impressed by students’ levels of maturity and by their knowledge of local, national and international issues. Many people point to apathy among young voters as reason enough not to allow younger people to cast a ballot. However, extending the franchise could actually help reverse this disturbing trend. Many young people do not vote because they do not believe their votes make a difference. They are disillusioned because they feel that politicians ignore their concerns. If the pool of young voters is enlarged, young people will wield more influence in our political system and their priorities will be better respected. Of course, some critics suggest that low turnouts will prevail in any case. However, they ignore the fact that student turnouts in mock federal elections are very high. The time has come to lower the voting age. Craig and Marc Kielburger, Co-founders, Leaders Today, Toronto