Young Voters Could Defeat Harper, So Why Don't They?

Young Voters Could Defeat Harper, So Why Don't They?

Postby Oscar » Tue Apr 07, 2015 7:45 am

Young Voters Could Defeat Harper, So Why Don't They?

[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/04/06/Young ... ign=060415 ]

Research suggests the answer is deeper than apathy or laziness.

By Geoff Dembicki, April 6, 2015, TheTyee.ca

Julie Van de Valk is just the type of young person that Canada's major progressive political parties want to attract. There's just one problem: she's not impressed by any of them. Van de Valk, 20, is a third-year geological engineering student at the University of British Columbia. In her spare time she helps run a campaign to divest the school's endowment from oil and gas companies. Climate change is so urgent that "it's not something we can wait another day to address," she told The Tyee.

Van de Valk does not fit the prevailing stereotype of Millennials: lazy, apathetic and uninformed. She's so passionate about global warming she spent a recent Saturday knocking on doors in Vancouver as part of a Storm the Riding campaign to raise awareness of climate solutions. But Van de Valk refrained that day from endorsing a specific political party. None of them, in her opinion, "are addressing climate change with the type of leadership that people who understand the issue want to see."

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Canada's 2015 election is no exception, she said. At least, not when it comes to climate change. Harper's Conservatives have warned climate action could be "job-killing." But the Liberals and NDP haven't offered Van de Valk a very inspiring alternative. Neither party has clearly articulated to her how it would drastically reduce carbon emissions and shift Canada to clean energy. Meanwhile, both have offered qualified support to the oilsands. "That doesn't do it for me," she said.

Fixing the system

Canada, after all, is set to miss its 2020 climate target by 20 per cent. Van de Valk knows Millennials like her will inherit the consequences of today's inaction. She also knows decisive climate policies have been implemented in places like China and Europe -- and that they're possible in Canada. What she craves is bold leadership. She doesn't care which political party shows it. "It is a huge fault of our democratic system that we look at climate change from a partisan perspective," she argued.

Her statement could apply to a broad range of gridlocked issues. Inequality, criminal justice, poverty -- the list goes on. "One reason young people are so disengaged from politics is they grew up in a system that can't seem to work," said Sam Gilman, CEO and co-founder of Common Sense Action, a Millennial think-tank and advocacy group with chapters on 40 college campuses across the U.S. Its logic is simple: make politics about solutions instead of partisanship, and more young people will engage.

"Our generation is different from previous generations in the sense that we care about collaborating," Gilman said. Common Sense Action is explicitly bipartisan. It recently merged with another Millennial group called Run for America in the hopes of electing a new generation of solutions-focused Democrats and Republicans in the 2016 House of Representatives election. "There aren't leaders stepping across the aisle to advance solutions to problems we face in our communities," Gilman said.

He has a long way to go. Youth turnout was just 20 per cent in the recent U.S. midterm elections, while polarization in Congress is at all time highs. Nothing similar to Common Sense Action's bipartisan election effort exists in Canada, where the gulf between left and right is rapidly growing. But if it did, Van de Valk is a likely supporter -- especially on the issue dearest to her. "We want to move away from the idea that climate change is associated with a specific party," she said. "Really it's something that all Canadians care about."

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Geoff Dembicki reports on energy and climate change for The Tyee. Find his previous stories here:.
[ http://thetyee.ca/Bios/Geoff_Dembicki/ ]
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Re: Young Voters Could Defeat Harper, So Why Don't They?

Postby Oscar » Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:44 am

Changing the game

[ http://lighthousenow.ca/article.php?tit ... g_the_game ]

by Michael Lee 2015-07-22

Marika Nicolov sees a lack of political engagement by youth and joined the Game Changers Campaign to do something about that on the South Shore.

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The Game Changers Campaign includes pledge cards that ask potential voters to provide their name and e-mail and for a simple commitment to vote in October.

The COC then provides a voting guide complete with each political party’s stance on issues relevant to youth, such as employment, tuition fees, climate change and Bill C-51.

Nicolov points to a lack of initiative on the part of the political parties to inspire youth, as their focus tends to be on the older demographic.

This may, in turn, cause a vicious cycle in which each feels disenchanted with the other, leading to a situation where each thinks the other side doesn’t care.

“But we do care,” said Nicolov.

MORE:

[ http://lighthousenow.ca/article.php?tit ... g_the_game ]


= = = =


Election 2015: How five millennials in B.C. are working to get out the youth vote


[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3175711 ]

'One vote can make the difference and we need to make sure that young Canadians understand that'

By Arielle Piat-Sauvé, CBC News Posted: Aug 07, 2015 1:24 PM PT| Last Updated: Aug 07, 2015 2:49 PM PT

The federal election campaign has officially kicked off and many young Canadians are also campaigning to try and convince voters in their generation to head to the polls Oct. 19.

During the last election, the youth vote only reached 38 per cent for 18 to 24 year olds across the country. That's a trend these five millennials want to see reversed.

Some parties are adopting specific strategies, while others are relying primarily on face-to-face interaction to entice young voters.

Elinor McNamee-Annett - Lead campus organizer at the Council of Canadians - Location: Vancouver, B.C. - Age: 23

Elinor McNamee-Annett is one of the many young Canadians choosing to get involved by joining non-partisan groups. Campus organizer with the Council of Canadians

At the Council of Canadians, McNamee-Annett is working to target key ridings, where she is trying to get young Canadians to better understand how they can be game-changers in this election.

She is preparing for the "Storm the Dorm" event which will take place on university campuses across Canada in September, where she will meet with students face-to-face to educate them about the election.

For McNamee-Annett, it isn't about convincing young voters to vote for a specific party, but to provide them with a guide about all party platforms.

"I think that naming my generation as apathetic is a mischaracterization," said McNamee-Annett.

"It's my job to try and change that political awareness into a vote."

MORE:

[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3175711 ]
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