Young voters engaged in politics but politicians not relevant
Making a "vote date" with a non-voter may be the latest idea aimed to get younger Canadians out to the ballot box on election day. And, it would seem there are a lot of eligible non-voters out there for vote dates!
In the previous election, fewer than 40 per cent of eligible voters aged between 18 and 25 actually cast a ballot.And that's a significantly lower rate of participation than for the population at large.
Today, we convened a panel of three young people who definitely don't suffer from political apathy. They're all volunteering in election campaigns.
- Safeeya Faruqui is a fourth-year student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. She stands behind the Liberal campaign.
- Noah Weisberg is a first-year student at Western University in London, Ontario. He feels the Conservative party speaks to him most.
- Erica Lee is a fourth-year student at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. She is an NDP supporter.
Apathy is Boring, a non-partisan organization dedicated to engaging young voters. Caro Loutfi is its Executive Director in Montreall. Apathy is Boring also supports the Youth Friendly program – a service that helps organizations better engage youth in their work.
Are you a young person? Do you vote? Why... or why not? What's important to you in this election campaign?
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This segment was produced by The Current's Naheed Mustafa and Sujata Berry.