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Higher youth turnout could change tone,
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A man casts his vote for the 2011 federal election in Toronto in this May 2, 2011 photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Chris
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Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
Published Saturday, March 22, 2014 10:42AM EDT
OTTAWA -- "My vote won't make any difference."
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It's a common refrain among those who don't bother to cast ballots in Canadian elections.
But a new analysis of young non-voters in the last federal election suggests they should think
again.
If young people had turned out to vote in the same numbers as the population overall in 2011,
pollster Nik Nanos says his research suggests they would have changed not just the outcome of
the election but the tone and content of the political debate.
Just over 60 per cent of eligible voters actually cast ballots in 2011. Among those under 30, fewer
than 40 per cent bothered to vote.
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http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/higher-youth-turnout-could-change-tone-outcome-of-political-debate-1.1741053[24/03/2014 8:47:51 AM]
Higher youth turnout could change tone, outcome of political debate | CTV News
Working with Kevin Page, the former parliamentary budget officer, on a project aimed at engaging
youth in the political process, Nanos has mined data from his daily polling during the 2011
campaign as well as research done for the Institute for Research on Public Policy to answer the
question: What if 60 per cent of young people had voted?
His answer: Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives likely wouldn't have won a majority.
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More importantly, he says the political debate would have been more hopeful and would have
revolved around a broader range of issues if young people had been more engaged in the
process.
"What we find is that their concerns are much more diverse than older Canadians who are fixated
on jobs and health care," Nanos said in an interview. "So if you're a younger Canadian, you're
twice as likely to say that the environment is a top national issue of concern. You're twice as likely
to say that education is a top national issue of concern."
His analysis also suggests older Canadians "are very cynical, they have less confidence in finding
solutions" whereas younger people "are actually much more hopeful, have a higher level of
confidence in finding solutions."
From that Nanos concludes: "Just the mere act of engaging them could reshape the tone of the
dialogue."
Much of the efforts to improve turnout among young voters have focused on making it easier for
them to vote, with polling stations on university campuses and more advance polls, among other
initiatives.
But while the mechanics of voting are important, Nanos said his research suggests political
leaders could do more to engage young people simply by talking about the issues that concern
youth and adopting a more hopeful, can-do manner.
"If we had the perfect voting system that was completely accessible, why do we think that more
Canadians would vote if the content sucked?"
He likens the current political dialogue to a buffet that serves only chicken and mashed potatoes -a diet that appeals to older Canadians who are most likely to vote. A buffet that offered a more
diverse menu would attract more diverse voters, Nanos argues.
Therein lies the Catch 22, however. Politicians necessarily target their messages at those who do
vote and as long as the majority of young people don't vote, their tastes are not going to be
catered to.
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"I think maybe we need to get our political leaders to change the dial on the policy agenda," says
Page, who is now research chair at the University of Ottawa's school of political studies.
At the same time, he adds: "I think in the case of students, when they see their own (turnout)
numbers ... and they don't see the policy content on the political leaders' agenda, they're culpable."
Page is attempting to change behaviour on both sides of the equation, inviting political leaders to
come and meet with students to discuss ways to improve political engagement.
He has organized an event Tuesday at UOttawa, featuring NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal
Leader Justin Trudeau, Green Leader Elizabeth May and Conservative MP Michael Chong, author
of a private member's bill aimed at empowering backbenchers.
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Some of his students, meanwhile, have launched an online "I vote/je vote" campaign, aimed at
mobilizing young voters through peer pressure.
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Higher youth turnout could change tone, outcome of political debate | CTV News
CHUCKLEHEAD
Mar. 23, 2014
10:35 AM
Abuse
Hailey O.
Mar. 23, 2014
9:57 AM
Abuse
Rich
Mar. 22, 2014
11:08 PM
Abuse
Pip
Mar. 22, 2014
9:48 PM
Abuse
Bill
Mar. 22, 2014
7:03 PM
Abuse
Bonnie
Mar. 22, 2014
5:10 PM
Abuse
Young voters have even less political intelligence (acquired through
experiential education) than the average "mature" Canadian voter.
Longing for more ignorance at electoral polling stations to
determine who runs our country isn't something I subscribe to.
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@ Rich even as a "student" many of us know that a "Budget does
not Balance itself" one has to work at it. We also know that it isn't
right to take hard earned dollars donated by "middle class" to
charities isn't right to take to the tune of $20,000. a pop.something
my parents and their friends couldn't believe this was happening.
We also know it isn't right to "vouch" for someone else when they
do not live in the area they are going to school and then head
home for a break and get to vote elsewhere where they do live.
Mulroney dismissed
Bouchard's influence
as Meech Lake
accord withered:
records
@Bill, all voters are affected by "soundbyte nonsense". Why do you
think the Conservatives are running attack ads 18 months before
the election? They're not appealing to educated voters with a good
sense of the issues. They're trying to brainwash voters into
believing he's not a valid choice.
That "my vote won't make a difference" attitude is a cop-out.
Young persons, the group that typically does not vote, could make
the difference between a close call in a riding and an outright
majority. Given that the age-group in question is unlikely to vote
Conservative, that means more Liberal or NDP seats in the House.
I don't care WHAT party a person votes for: they should just get out
come election day and VOTE. With only a 60% turnout, it is
possible for a party to get less than 40% of the popular vote and
win a clear majority - and both Conservatives and Liberals have
gained majorities that way. The higher the turnout, the higher the
percentage needed. As long as we have a first-past-the-post
system, that will ALWAYS be true. On the other hand, proportional
representation is little better, as it would require an increase in the
number of MP's to make things balance. The other way would be to
REDUCE the number of seats in the House - but how many sitting
MP's would vote for that, were it proposed? They have way too
much to lose. And to the poster stating that the majority of ballots
go in the garbage can: that is an implication that the votes had no
value whatsoever - totally untrue. Only a vote that is spoiled, or
worse still, is never cast (like those who claim their vote would
make no difference), is without value. Perhaps a study of the
Election Act is in order to find out how an election works, from the
administration point of view, and just how long ballots must be
securely kept after an election.
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A higher youth turnout in elections COULD be a good thing, IF they
were actually educated to make rational choices instead of buying
into sound byte, nonsense. Nanos is himself a large part of the
problem because the polsters try to puff themselves up as being
more important than the actual election and the real issues. Of
course the various fruitbats and fringe groups aren't helping anyone
either. Not to mention, EC not doing its job properly to begin with,
before and at the polling stations.
Pleased to hear that Mr. Page is involved with this important task
of empowering and encouraging our young adults to recognize the
importance of voting. The new 'Fair Elections Act' on the horizon is
anything but fair. A good leader would ensure serious consensus
throughout the land and know that the changes made are the will
of the people. Not so with our leader (choke) who appears to have
an agenda that is quite different from what Canadians need or
want. I've been encouraging all the young people in my life to get
involved and pay a little more attention to what is transpiring in our
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/higher-youth-turnout-could-change-tone-outcome-of-political-debate-1.1741053[24/03/2014 8:47:51 AM]
Higher youth turnout could change tone, outcome of political debate | CTV News
country. Thanx Mr. Page, you have much respect from the
concerned who are watching closely.
Bonnie
Mar. 22, 2014
5:09 PM
Abuse
Pleased to hear that Mr. Page is involved with this important task
of empowering and encouraging our young adults to recognize the
importance of voting. The new 'Fair Elections Act' on the horizon is
anything but fair. A good leader would ensure serious consensus
throughout the land and know that the changes made are the will
of the people. Not so with our leader (choke) who appears to have
an agenda that is quite different from what Canadians need or
want. I've been encouraging all the young people in my life to get
involved and pay a little more attention to what is transpiring in our
country. Thanx Mr. Page, you have much respect from the
concerned who are watching closely.
dont wait for autumn I have an idea how to reach young non-voters. First get their
Mar. 22, 2014
1:31 PM
Abuse
DJ
Mar. 22, 2014
1:18 PM
Abuse
Canadian Guy
Mar. 22, 2014
12:44 PM
Abuse
Dan from St Kits
Mar. 22, 2014
12:35 PM
Abuse
attention. This will not be easy to do but necessary. Confiscate
their cell phones, ipads,ebooks and video games. Just for one day,
voting day. Then march restless youth at the point of a gun to the
voting booth. They wont have a clue who or why they should vote.
But hey that does not matter! As long as they vote. Right.We could
also realize that our young people are too intelligent to vote, and
have better things to do. Let ma and pa vote because they have a
life time of experience and fully understand the issues, our parents
have done a good job in bringing us up and hey it would stink to be
in so many other countries were even ma and pa dont get to vote.
Also the voting statistics are badly skewered and the media is
doing a terrible job reporting about them.
I frankly don’t understand what the fuss is all about regarding the
government trying to prevent people from voting. For a democracy
to work all citizens should be entitled to vote once. The
requirement to demonstrate that you meet the citizenship
requirement can be done in advance and isn’t onerous. Controls to
prevent people from voting in multiple places are also reasonable
for ensuring a fair vote. Yes it isn’t as simple as it could be, but that
is a small price to pay for reliable results at the ballot box. The
rules work the same regardless of the individual’s party affiliation,
so the effort to vote is the same and do not disenfranchise any
group or party. Some of the people protesting will line up all night
to be first to own the latest iPhone, or for tickets to a concert or
special event, so the effort to vote isn’t that big of a deal by
comparison.
@Holly Pender-Love - Exactly, it's actually quite scary. Harper is
putting more ridings in Conservative territory, restricting voters
(most of whom vote Liberal/NDP), and trying to allow parties to
spend significantly more on elections (which only conservatives
would benefit from). Yet he calls Russia the dictatorship. The only
thing we have left is the Supreme Court, thankfully they've been
know to knock down Harper's unconstitutional 'laws'.
The only way to get more people to vote is to scrape our current
election system and the fundamentals in the House of Commons.
Voters are correct in believing their vote does not matter because it
does not. With a first past the post system 60-70% of all ballots
cast in any given riding go straight from the ballot box to the
garbage can. Once your MP gets to Ottawa they represent the
party, not the voters who elected them. Until Canada becomes a
democracy and uses the preferred balloting system or ranked
balloting and gets MP's out from under the thumb of party leaders
Canadians may as well stay home on election day rather than
wasting valuable time on the farce that is democracy in Canada.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/higher-youth-turnout-could-change-tone-outcome-of-political-debate-1.1741053[24/03/2014 8:47:51 AM]
Higher youth turnout could change tone, outcome of political debate | CTV News
Holly Pender-Love
Mar. 22, 2014
12:25 PM
This is precisely why Mr. Harper is trying to restrict access to the
vote by youth. they will sway the vote to a more progressive
agenda.
Abuse
Kevin in the Army
Mar. 22, 2014
12:17 PM
Abuse
Roxanne B.
Mar. 22, 2014
12:07 PM
I think it is great that we may get a higher youth turnout what really
and truly bothers me is that our educators have brought so much
politics into the classroom. In BC this is so true as they tried to
create a whole new group of hippies when my kids were in school
there.
So does it mean we can vote at the University and then go home
and vote again in our area, bring a friend home and vouch I know
that person and she to can vote again. Sounds like a plan.
Abuse
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