Senior High

Over the last 30 years, Canadians have watched with concern as voting rates among younger people have declined, with the result that in the 2011 federal election, the majority of young people opted not to cast a vote.

The low voting rate among younger Canadians is often viewed as evidence that young people today are more apathetic or lazy than any other generation before. Samara’s latest research “Message Not Delivered” debunks these myths.

How was this research reinforced with youth voting rates in the 2015 provincial and federal elections?

What evidence do you see around you that proves that youth are not apathetic?

Source: This infographic is based on Message Not Delivered: The Myth of Apathetic Youth and the Importance of Contact, by Samara Canada.

The results of public opinion research conducted by Samara Canada show “that while Canadians give time and money to making communities better places to live, we’re far less likely to apply those same energies to politics.

Consider this:

• While 55% of us volunteer our time, only 10% volunteer in an election.
• While 84% donate money to a charity or non-profit, only 10% donate to political candidates or parties.
• While 58% are active in a group or association, only 10% are members of political parties.

In selecting which political activities to include, Samara chose actions that connect citizens with each other or allow them to express an opinion in public, rather than more solitary activities, such as following political news. Some activities require very little time or energy, such as tweeting a political story or discussing politics. Others, like volunteering in a community organization, are often considered civic activities rather than political ones, but they are an important part of Canadians’ political life, allowing citizens to express concerns about policy as part of a group, and deserve attention.”

Find out more in Lightweights: Political Participation Beyond the Ballot Box on Samara Canada.

The photo was created by Erik MacLennan when he was 17 and won first place in the 2013 National Democracy Challenge. The photo is called “Passing the Torch.”

What rights and responsibilities do you think are most important for effective youth involvement in a democratic society?

A group of Bonnyville students had the unique opportunity to help influence change on a provincial level.

Notre Dame High School (NDHS) was one of seven schools in Alberta chosen to co-author a white paper on climate change. Last week, Gabby Cowan, a Grade 11 student and leader in the environmental sciences group, travelled down to Edmonton to present the students’ ideas to Shannon Phillips, minister responsible for climate change, and Education Minister David Eggen.

“At first it was kind of scary. Once I met them it was really cool, they were happy and optimistic,” recalled Cowan. “So many people had different ideas. There were only two (groups from) rural areas and the rest of the groups were from cities, so it was neat to see the different perspectives based on location.”

Students started on the white paper earlier this year, participating in a town hall session to bounce ideas back and forth with the other schools. Working collaboratively, they developed recommendations in four key areas: curriculum, student learning, infrastructure, and professional development for teachers.

Having written the white paper, each school sent student representatives to summarize the recommendations and present them to the ministers.

“For us, curriculum was a big idea for us because we are now getting an environmental sciences course in our school next year. We were really pushing for it to be Alberta-wide,” said Cowan.

What is a white paper? What recommendations would you present to government in a white paper?

Oelschlagel, K. (June 14, 2016). NDHS student pitches climate change proposals to ministers: Bonnyville Nouvelle.

Is there an issue you care about? Frustrated by something happening in your community and not sure where to start? In this short video by the Samara Centre for Democracy, follow Michelle as she learns from her friend Luke, a real-life Everyday Political Citizen and champion of accessibility, about the many ways she can make a difference on an issue she cares about.

When Elsie Morden was a teenager in rural Manitoba, she switched schools eight times, desperately trying to avoid the girls who made her life [awful]. But with another school came a new group of mean girls….

Morden, now 20, shares [her stories] as part of her No Time for That tour, which she has taken to more than 450 schools across Canada since 2012. In addition to being a committed anti-bullying activist, she’s an emerging country singer/songwriter and uses her music to connect with kids….

Morden — who performs with her dad, Ken Byrka, as well as her sisters, Mallory Byrka, 19, and Victoria Byrka, 17 — was at General Vanier School Wednesday, performing for a small group of grades 5 to 8 students. Her shows are short and energetic, part confessional, part country-pop show. She aims to empower both victims and bystanders. Her overall message is one of empathy and resilience.

How can role models be advocates for social and political participation?

Zoretti, J. (March 24, 2016). Mission possible: Turning bullies around: Winnipeg Free Press.

Photo Credit: Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press

“Young people between the ages of 15 and 25 constitute a fifth of the world’s population. While they are often involved in informal, politically relevant processes, such as activism or civic engagement, they are not formally represented in national political institutions such as parliaments and many of them do not participate in elections. This can impact on the quality of democratic governance.”

This quotation is from the introduction to Enhancing Youth Political Participation throughout the Electoral Cycle: A Good Practice Guide.

How could you take inspiration and ideas for an action project from the strategies in this guide?

Keshav is a Student Ambassador from Halifax for Student Vote who organized an all-candidates forum for the 2015 federal election. Keshav made the following opening remark:

“We have the opportunity to create change, an opportunity that many youth around the world don’t have. There is nothing more influential than an informed group of youth. We need to find a passion that we believe in and build on it. It’s about being principled, not partisan. It’s about the policies that are best for Canada.”

From Principled Not Partisan: A Lesson from Students on the Future of Canada’s Democracy: Student Vote

Elections Alberta used video messages such as this to encourage citizens to take the time to vote in the 2012 provincial election.

What role do you think political parties should have to encourage people to vote?

After the 2015 election, Elections Canada conducted the National Youth Survey as part of their ongoing efforts to understand how the barriers to voting are evolving.

The majority of youth at least somewhat agreed that voting was easy and convenient (84%), although they were less likely than older adults to strongly agree.

Interest in the last federal election was high overall: 86% of youth and 93% of older adults said they were very or somewhat interested. Interest in Canadian politics in general was not as keen: 19% of youth said they were not very or not all interested, compared to 7% of older adults.

Although most youth (84%) and older adults (88%) thought that at least one political party talks about issues that are important to them, youth felt less strongly that, by voting, they could make a difference (74% vs. 86%).

This survey also showed that youth are split on whether voting is a duty or a choice. Overall, 47% consider it a choice, while 49% believe it is a duty. In contrast, older adults are much more likely to view voting as a duty (64%) rather than a choice (36%). Meanwhile, unemployed youth are more likely than other target audiences to consider voting a choice (60%).

Access more information in the National Youth Survey Report on the Elections Canada website.

How do you think mandatory voting would affect youth attitudes towards voting?

Generation Flux, a quality-of-life report released in 2012 by Community Foundations of Canada, provides a snapshot of issues facing youth in Canadian society. Find the full report, #GenerationFlux: Understanding the seismic shifts that are shaking Canadian youth, on the Vital Signs website.

What challenges do you think most affect identities and political involvement of youth in Canada?

A 2012 survey on citizenship in Canada asked Canadians to identify what makes it difficult to be good citizens. The survey found that most Canadians do not identify major constraints to doing things that make them feel like a good citizen.

The main obstacle identified (without prompting) is lack of time (21%), followed by cost (9%). No other barrier is identified by more than five percent of Canadians, and more than four in ten (44%) could not identify anything preventing them from feeling like a good citizen.

How do you think lack of time might affect political participation, including voting in municipal, provincial and federal elections?

Environics Institute (2012). Canadians on Citizenship: The first national survey on what it means to be a citizen in Canada.

Sejal Makheja, a high school student at The Holton-Arms School, founded The Elevator Project in 2012. She was inspired by an experience in a Washington, D.C. soup kitchen where she met a man named Juan. He shared that the reason he was unable to get a full-time, well-paying job opportunity was because employers refused to hire those with minimal education and minimal skill attainment.

Sejal had a theory that education and the opportunity to develop skills would help individuals come out of poverty. She and her family helped Juan and proved her theory. The Elevator Project was born, inspired by the Kevin Spacey quotation, “If you’re lucky enough to do well, it is your responsibility to send the elevator back down.”

Find out more about The Elevator Project and Sejal’s commitment to inspire other members of Generation Z.

What is a social conscience? How does The Elevator Project promote both individual and collective responsibility?

The Portrait of Youth in Canada: Political participation and civic engagement report uses Statistics Canada survey data to describe the civic engagement activities and political participation of young people in Canada.

A 2012 survey on citizenship in Canada identified things that Canadians do that make them feel like a good citizen. They are most likely to emphasize doing volunteer work (34%), and being kind and generous to other people (26%); ahead of paying taxes (21%), obeying the law (20%) and voting in elections (17%).

Other things that make people feel like a good citizen include being employed (14%), donating to charities (12%), being an active participant in their community (10%), and participating in a religious or faith community (8%).

Environics Institute (2012). Canadians on Citizenship: The first national survey on what it means to be a citizen in Canada.

 What do these results tell you about collective Canadian values? Do you think it is possible to make generalizations about collective Canadian identities? Why or why not?

This poster was developed by 30 youth who participated in a Samara Canada forum to relate their experiences working in political engagement and develop recommendations for elected representatives and their staff.

What recommendations would you provide to elected representatives?

The background photo shows Pierre Trudeau addressing a crowd during the 1974 election campaign ‘Whistle Stop Tour of the Maritimes.’

How is political campaigning different now than it was in the past? How has social media affected the way politicians and governments communicate with individuals?

Photo Credit: Duncan Cameron/Library and Archives Canada/PA

Apathy is Boring and the Environics Institute surveyed millennials to learn more about their social values and the diversity of the generation. How does this effect their participation? – Check out the report here.

Elections can have their own story. Candidates and political parties make promises and promote their views based on issues that are important. Citizens choose who they want to represent them by voting. The government is formed as a result of the election. Check out the 2023 Alberta provincial general election from a student point of view at Student Vote Alberta.

In what other ways can youth participate politically in a democratic society?

Just because you do not take an interest in politics, doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.

~ Pericles

What do you think this statement means? Do you agree? Why or why not?

Lowering the voting age to 16 is not a new idea. In some countries like Brazil, Austria and Scotland, people aged 16 and up can vote. Some Canadians support this idea. Others oppose it.

What are the implications of lowering the voting age? What impact do you think this would have on youth participation and political engagement?

Jeff Coffman, a city councillor from Lethbridge, wants to lower the legal voting age from the current 18.

…research actually shows that the younger a person votes, the greater the [likelihood] that they will actually keep on being a voter throughout their life…. So this is about training a group of 16- and 17-year-olds how to be democratic citizens.

Civic elections are a great place to start, because teenagers use city services. They go to school, walk and drive on roads, take the bus and use libraries and recreational facilities.

I think kids nowadays have greater maturity than we give them credit for and they certainly have greater access to knowledge and information than what we did in my generation.

CBC News Calgary (September 23, 2015). Alberta cities vote against lowering voting age to 16.

The Edmonton city council agrees. On August 16, 2016 a city council executive committee backed a request from the Edmonton Youth Council to lower the voting age for municipal elections to 16. City council will send the request on to the provincial government.

The youth councillors, first and foremost, demonstrated that young people can have a relevant voice in our democracy by bringing forward a very compelling argument with strong evidence and research that 16-year-olds have sufficient cognitive ability to express informed democratic consent and therefore to vote,” Mayor Don Iveson said.

“I was persuaded by their evidence and I think anything that over the long-term fosters greater engagement and participation in our civic democracy – and ultimately perhaps provincial and federal democracy – is a good thing.

Mertz, E. (August 16, 2016). Edmonton City Council supports youth request to lower voting age to 16: Global News.

What is open government and does it have the same meaning across different countries? Learn about open government in Canada and other countries by vising the Open Government Partnership website.

The background photo was created by Emilia Lilek, 16, from Waterloo, Ontario for the National Democracy Challenge. Students from across the country submitted videos, images and pieces of writing on the 2014 theme “Show us why Canadians should vote.” Emilia won 2nd place in the image category.

What message would you create to show why Canadians should vote?

Research by Samara Canada shows that many Canadians have stopped using their political voice; nearly 40% of Canadians report they have not had even one conversation about politics in the last year.

They found that volunteering on a political campaign—or even voting—is unlikely to be anyone’s first political action. However, just talking about politics and discussing community issues in everyday life can lead to an increase in participation.

How strong do you think your political voice is?

Find out more about Democracy Talks on Democratic Engagement Exchange.

The Fair Elections Act was passed in 2014 by the Conservative government. The Act implemented a number of changes to the electoral process in federal elections. One of these changes involved voter identification. In the bill, Voter Information Cards were not allowed to be used as identification. Vouching, or allowing a voter with proper identification to vouch for the identity of another voter, was also prohibited.

In 2018, the Election Modernization Act was passed by the Liberal government. It reintroduced both the Voter Information Card as a piece of identification and vouching.

Do you think more restrictive identification guidelines may disadvantage some voters? Who do you think may be most affected?

This photo was created by Shauna Lynch for the 2013 National Democracy Challenge and won second place in the image category.

What does democracy look like to you? Why could your perspective on democracy be different from others?

Once the election is called, Elections Alberta recruits election officers and support staff to assist with the election. Albertans who are at least sixteen years old can be appointed to work as an election officer for Alberta elections. Explore information about the roles and responsibilities of election workers here.

Click on the Voterlink logo to find out how online voter registration happens.

What does it take to be a voter in Alberta?

ISideWith.com presents online polls related to political, social and economic issues. Take the ISideWith.com polls on electoral issues and compare your results to their results by province, city and political party.

Should Canada switch to a proportional representation voting system?

Should term limits be set for the role of Prime Minister?

Should all citizens have to pass a citizenship test?

Should there be a limit to the amount of money a candidate can receive from a donor?

What are other electoral issues of current concern?

The Don’t Let Others Decide for You advertising campaign was used by Elections Alberta to encourage Albertans to vote in the 2019 provincial general election. Samples of previous Elections Alberta advertising campaigns are available on their website.

What message does this ad send to voters?

Elections are an important aspect of a democracy. Some people think that making voting compulsory, or mandatory, would ensure the full participation of citizens. Other people think that a free, democratic society should give citizens the choice of whether or not to vote.

Mandatory voting would ask better of these citizens; that they take the time to become informed and cast a ballot. And in becoming informed, they might learn that voting is in their best interest.

-Lisa Young, University of Calgary

It’s unlikely that forcing citizens to vote will do anything to address the causes of their disengagement [or lack of participation…A single] focus on voter turn-out obscures the fact that democracy exists beyond election day. Genuine re-engagement requires focus in between elections.

-Alison Loat, Samara Canada

Try an internet search, using the search terms “mandatory voting Canada” and “mandatory voting Australia” to find other perspectives and opinions. Compare the perspectives and opinions you find.

Some Canadians are against the idea of lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, including councillor Andre Chabot from Calgary and Jamie Cutler from Claresholm.

People who vote at a young age might become lifelong voters, but there is no data that suggests this would result in any sort of reasonable increases in voter turnout overall.

Kids as young as 16 need to be out playing football or figuring out what they’re doing for the weekend. There’s enough things in the world taking kids away from being kids. We should just leave the adult world to the adults.

Ferguson, E. (September 23, 2015). Municipal leaders vote against lowering voting age for local elections: Calgary Herald.

Some countries have passed laws that require citizens to vote. Belgium was one of the first in 1892. In these countries, voting is considered a duty.

Source: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

What are some example of countries have compulsory voting? How does the voter turnout rate compare between countries with compulsory voting and those without?