FREE ESSAY ON LOWER VOTING AGE IN CANADA

LOWER VOTING AGE IN CANADA

The young as well as the older people of Canada seem to be in a deadlock. The question of
if the federal government should or should not lower the voting age is a question debated
surely around the dinner tables of families in Canada, as well as in the ranks of the
government. Some people even suggest that the age needs to be raised. What would make
people want the voting age to be lowered to an even lower age than the young adult age of
18? On the other hand how can the youth of Canada who have their own individual views be
able to make a difference without being able to vote? Both sides provide for an
intriguing look into the facts and resolutions for an appropriate way to either change
the voting age or keep it the same. Throughout this paper I will look at and analyze the
arguments of the youth who claim to be 'disenfranchised', as well as others who see the
lowering of the voting age to be detrimental rather than an improvement to the Government
of Canada's political process.
In 1854, before Canada became a responsible government the only people allowed to vote
were people who had a high value of land which they owned, and had a high income. Women
and people with other ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs were also denied the right
to vote. This did not mean that these people did not have their views and beliefs on who
and what they wanted in their government but rather they were denied the right. These
laws have changed since then drastically and Canada has become a democratic country (rule
by the people). However, the frustration of not being able to vote and support their
ideals and politicians does live on in the hearts and minds of thousands of young
Canadians under the age of eighteen. 
The youth of Canada between the ages of ten to eighteen years old accounts for
approximately 12.5 percent of the overall population of Canada. Thousands of these young
adults are politically informed, politically active and have the concerns and demands
many of the people who actually vote have. However, the youth of Canada also have
concerns of their own which they are unable to address substantially. People under the
age of eighteen for the most part are concerned in matters much different than say an
employed thirty five-year-old. The youth under eighteen still are in high school they are
concerned about as a grade 10 student from Western Canada High School put class sizes,
teacher disputes, and minimum wage, (Thompson) among other things. He later goes on to
state the fact that by the time he has indeed graduated and become eighteen years old, he
will no longer be interested in class sizes nor teacher disputes, therefore he will not
address them in his decision on who he decided to vote for. This is a very valid argument
and it is also true for the most part to say that the voices of these concerned children
should be heard via the vote of their parents. The government of Canada sees the parents
as a voice for their children, however parents inevitably will vote in a bias towards
their needs such as tax cuts. Without the availability and opportunity to vote and voice
their opinions in an electoral system the youth of Canada are left to impact the
political process in other ways. Thousands of youth are involved in political parties,
political rallies and interest groups all over the country and as the country starts
recognizing these groups more it has become increasingly easier to voice one's opinion
and join. This is a valid argument to the point that most youth can already impact the
result in politics by voicing their opinions and informing others rather than voting.
Interest groups are an influential part of politics in Canada and if one under the age of
eighteen does feel the need to voice their opinion and influence politics this can be
argued to be easier and sometimes more efficient than actually voting. On the other hand,
an interest group never can or will have the power to appoint a new mayor or Prime
Minister or take part in deciding the result of a referendum the way a vote can and this
in the end is what the youth of Canada really want.
Another aspect of the Canadian Government that seems to confuse the youth in Canada is
the respect of maturity they can receive in many other aspects of life while politically
they are seen as not mature enough to vote for themselves in an election or referendum.
For example, a 15 year old boy living in Canada legally could get married next month,
have as many children of his own, drive a car, he could leave school and live on the
street away from home, even work full-time, but he would still not be allowed to vote.
How can the government of Canada allow a child to face all the responsibilities and
maturity needed to make these choices and not feel that the child is mature enough to
vote? Catherine Johannson the national director of the NDP youth wing states In terms of
the political process, it's very frustrating for people who are under the age of 18 who
work on political campaigns and put a lot of effort into it and are politically aware and
politically active (Charlottetown-Guardian). The government needs to be much more
consistent when dealing with these teenagers. It seems that the youth under eighteen are
allowed to and trusted with dangerous machines such as cars, are considered mature enough
to make the decision to drop out of school but, they are not considered mature enough to
vote and make a political decision by themselves.
The youth under eighteen do have a point hindering their argument to lower the voting age
and that is the youth over the age of eighteen. Realistically the youth of Canada over
eighteen as a whole do not vote when the opportunity is given. The youth seem almost
unaware and uncaring when it comes to political matters and elections. For example in the
United States in 1994, only 20.1 percent of the population aged 18-24 voted for any
office or issue on ballot compared to the 56.7 percent aged 45-64. These results are both
staggering and obvious of the amount of young voters voting on election days. These
results are also very similar to the results in Canada today. It is obvious that the
youth that are allowed to vote don't seem to be doing so, that brings us to the question,
why?
The youth of Canada and the rest of the world need a reason to vote, they need to hear
the political parties and politicians address the problems and concerns of youth as well
as paying attention to them. The politicians need to give the youth a reason to vote they
need to see results because in the past the youth have seen failed promises and poor
results and the faith in politicians has greatly decreased. The media has been
influential in making the decision if there is good reason to vote and in many ways as
Christian Burke expresses we tend to trust them more than we should, and that bias is
present in the coverage of everything (Burke). This is true, as the media is the fastest
and easiest way to gain information and we tend to believe every word as they are on the
television or radio. The youth of today live in an age of media with superstars of
Hollywood, supermodels on the runway, and in many ways the youth of Canada will judge on
image. Image is important to the youth and in many instances will vote for the party with
a handsome well dressed leader because of his image rather than his ideals, beliefs and
promises. This is very superficial and is another detrimental point made against lowering
the age of voting. 
Many speeches and events have happened and are currently booked to help the youth be
interested in politics and eventually cast their vote. Politicians have lately been
noticing the power of the youth vote and are starting to canter on informing and
educating the youth of Canada on the political process and parties. From personal
experience, politics was never taught in elementary of high school education. It was
maybe mentioned every once and again in conversation but graduation came and left fellow
classmates and myself uninformed, uneducated and uninterested in political process and
parties. Individuals scattered throughout the system will inevitably become interested
and pursue individually but as a whole the education system of Canada fails in making the
youth interested in politics and election censuses show these products. The government
has started to notice this trend and have started putting together events such as Rush
the Vote campaign which is aimed at as organizer Paul Green states making sure that youth
turn out to vote this election (Toronto Star). To do this the campaign draws upon popular
musicians who appeal to many spectrums of youth interest to get the youth interested in
the political process. If these events do succeed to appeal to the youth and interest
them enough to participate and vote, then the future of lowering the voting age seems
brighter. Without evidence that the youth will in fact vote and take care with their
decisions the politicians will inevitably find it unnecessary to change anything.
In other foreign countries such as Iraq, the voting age is 16. There are both good and
bad aspects of this difference noticeable when looking at the results and strategies of
their elections and politicians. In Iraq their democratic system is much different then
ours in Canada. There is a huge variety of candidates with thousands of politicians
fighting for a small number of seats. Violence is common in the politics of Iraq which
makes it visibly seem more important to their people than we (as the people of Canada)
believe. The varieties of politicians have an array of different strategies. One of these
is to appeal to the young by listening to their demands and making promises to be kept or
forgotten. This can be seen in two ways, the politicians could be honestly listening to
the young and wanting to help them or they could be using and exploiting the young for
the power of their votes because they might seem more ignorant to the truths than the
older generations. Any way one looks at the lower voting age in Iraq it is apparent that
the youth vote does count and that the politicians are listening. Compared to Canada
where the young are not even really considered into the demographics and results of an
election it seems more democratic.
Taking the pros and the cons of the issue in question it is hard to come up with a valid
solution but provincial and federal governments have already started. Along with
campaigns such as Rush the Vote and others the government is interested in lowering the
voting age. National Democratic Party MP Nelson Riis has seemingly spearheaded the
movement and states it's time the walls come down (Charlottetown Guardian). He has
introduced a private members bill in parliament that if passed will lower the voting age
in Canada and all of its provinces from eighteen to sixteen. Sixteen is the ideal age in
which most of the youth today feel mature enough and educated enough to vote. Riis claims
he has support from all house parties and among fellow MPs but it is still to be seen if
the bill will make it through the process and lower the age. Something should be done, be
it addressing the problems in another way or lowering the age because it is becoming
increasingly apparent that the youth of Canada are not currently satisfied with the
system and they are the future of Canada. Organizations such as Youthspeak, which was
founded by a 15-year-old and is designed to lower the voting age and encourages youth
rights in politics. A statement from their website reads; YouthSpeak's primary focus
issue is youth enfranchisement: that is youth political power! We work to eliminate the
voting age, and support a constitutional amendment that would lower it. We also work for
other issues, the elimination of curfew laws, youth free speech, and other youth power
issues! . These voices must be heard and political powers should do something to listen
to the issues and take action. If something were done to lower the voting age to sixteen
it would not affect the results very substantially for many reasons. Not all the youth in
Canada would vote as is obvious with the youth that are allowed to vote. The youth who
would vote would most likely be educated in the different choices and have a reason to
take time out of their lives to make the decision and vote. Youth would not vote if they
were not interested, they would not just vote frivolously or vote because they did not
have anything else to do. The reactions of the public and the appeal of the leaders would
justify the results in the exact way it is today. As Bob Franklin states in his book on
the rights of children Research evidence suggests that the party political implications
of change would be minimal, with no party finding its support disproportionately enhanced
(Franklin).
The worries of elder Canadians initially will be strong but as they realize the power of
the rights and beliefs of their own children change in their opinions would soon take
place. The people of Canada will soon accept the youth to be mature in their decisions in
much the way that they are confident eighteen-year-olds will make the uninfluenced,
educated choice. Politician's opinions can easily shift when they also realize the power
held in the votes made by the youth of Canada. Politicians would increase their attention
on the issues in the life of a typical youth such as school disputes, teacher problems
and other factors affecting them. This would in turn balance and decentralize the current
focus of politicians and their efforts creating a more justified, equal system. The lower
age could also encourage and interest youth much more in political processes and parties
as now they would actually be able to impact the way they are governed and who is
governing them. Politics would be much more noticeable in schools and the general
knowledge of politics and the political process would drastically increase. The youth
would also be more likely to develop earlier the skills and potentials needed in later
life politically and even socially. 
In conclusion when all is said and done I, personally would like to say the voting age
lowered to sixteen for many of the reasons above. There will be many people opposing this
movement but I think it is time for the youth of Canada to be heard and if they wish they
should have the opportunity to vote and express their opinions and choices.