Proposal

A prevalent social issue that has caught the attention of our group is the continuous decline in voter turnout during federal elections in Canada over the last 25 years. Most notably, the 2008 federal elections, has been the lowest recorded voter turnout for a national election. At a staggering 58.8% (Heard) it is approximately 17% lower than it was twenty years ago.

The dilemma of low voter turnout within Canada has not always been an issue. In the 1988 federal election, the voter turnout was at 75%. Although there has been in fact a steady decline in voter turnout in the last 25 years, there has been a point in Canada’s history where voter turnout has been significantly higher than where it currently stands. During the post WWII era up to the late 70’s voter turnout were anywhere in between the range of 71%-79%. However, these figures began to drop in the early 80’s, and rose for a short period of time during the 88’ election, and then to steadily decrease from that point on eventually plummeting to the 58.8% turnout during the 08’ Federal Elections.

It is evident that that through these figures, there is a continuous decreasing trend in voter turnout. With that being said, our group would like to address the decline in the **youth voter turnout**, which according to independent studies held by //mapleleafweb.com// claim that approximately 25% of eligible voters between the ages of 18-24 participated in the last federal vote. Of all the age groups participating in federal elections, it is the youth demographic that has the lowest turnout. Historically, it has shown that the demographic between the ages of 18-24 have been the lowest percentage of voter turnout during Canadian federal elections.

The primary stakeholders with regards to the issue of low voter turnout in youth consist of two main groups: the political leaders and their parties, as well as school. According to //mapleleafweb.com,// a significant reason as to why youth do not participate in voting is that they feel that political parties focus very little of their campaign towards the youth. Furthermore, many youth do not feel that political parties simply do not put enough concern towards issues relevant to their specific age group. According to studies carried out by statistics Canada, “young adults are simply tuned out of the political process.” They claim that the vast amount of information online available to them as well as other media such as television and magazines make it difficult for the individual to find a reference point in acquiring knowledge and information in the Canadian politics.

Engaging the youth to take part in the electoral process is a very important factor in ensuring that they will vote in future elections. According to independent studies by //mapleleafweb.com,// they claim that eligible youth voters who do not partake in elections are more than likely not to vote as they become older. With that said, political parties have the most influence in changing the low-voter outcome. They are the ones who are rallying for as many votes as they possibly can receive, and by addressing certain issues that affect youth such as tuition fees, minimum wage and youth employment, this would most likely entice youth voters to participate in the elections. Politicians must address interest and concern with regards to such as those previously mentioned. By doing so, this would create some relevancy and connection between the widening gap youths feel between themselves and how much their vote really matters. All in all, political parties need to reach out to young voters to make them feel more involved. Coming to a group consensus, we felt that our school system both at the high school and university level should place more importance and awareness in taking part in the electoral process. Speaking from first hand experience, there is a lack of enthusiasm as well as understanding when it comes to Canadian politics.

Politicians and campaign organizers need to relate themselves to more of the issues and concerns that youth have. Ways of doing this to easily attract the youth would be to create events, forums and lectures to increase the youth voter turnout. Events that would help to shape the youth voter turnout would be more political campaigning geared towards the Canadian youth. For example, the Obama campaign has been very influential over the past year as evolutionary in the Political world. This type of campaigning over the internet and through mainstream media has been rarely used to its full capacity until Obama came along. He was able to engage his voters to get out there and vote as it is their right and privilege to create what kind of country they live in through voting. Using ideas and resources such as //Rock the vote// and //Rush the vote// did to help get out the word on voting as well as educating the youth in politics. This type of medium will help to give these young voters more motivation to go out and vote through simplifying the information and presenting it in a fresh and enticing approach. Take for example, in 1999 //Rush the Vote// hosted the ‘Youth Music Power Summit’, an event held at Nathan Philip Square, Toronto that featured artists, community leaders, and politicians. These events will engage the future youth to learn more about their future politicians and participate on Election Day.

A significant reason that is problematic to voter turnout is the timing of the elections as well as events which usually go on during either the summer months when youth are on vacation or during the fall when school is their main priority. A very significant reason as mentioned before as to why youth are not voting is because they are not interested and are not well educated on the subject of politics. By organizing these events and campaigns geared toward the youth, it will help to create interest and participation in young voter turnouts.

As youth, we feel that is it important to exercise the democratic right to vote, as well as familiarizing themselves with how the Canadian political system operates and ways youth can get involved. Our focus is engaging youth to **actively** participate within the political system, and to raise their awareness in Canadian Politics. We find that the most prevalent reason as to why youth do not participate is due to the lack of education and knowledge concerning Canadian Politics, even to acquire a basic understanding of the political parties, their leaders and their campaign promises. We would like our target audience, which in this case are all those between the ages of 18-24 to become informed individuals come election time, and to vote with a sense of awareness, understanding and appreciation. It is our goal that those who come across our campaign, will acquire the necessary knowledge so that they may become better-informed individuals, and to enlighten their peers.

Our group believes that the lack of voter participation within youth is an issue of concern. The main objective of our campaign is to address this problem to the youth through the mediums we feel are the most effective and relevant in reaching them. With that being said, our group feels that it would be most appropriate to build a web site to hold this information. Communicating our message through the web would be the most effective, as those who lie in between the ages of 18-24 are very technologically inclined, and spend a considerable part of their day on a computer with access to the web. Our site would provide information about the political platforms, and how the Canadian government works in a simplified and concise manner. Furthermore, we would provide other important information, links and other resources to get involved in the political process. Ultimately, the website would provide all the necessary information and resources to allow any youth accessing our site with the tools to become better informed citizens.