Why not? Intellectually, most of Canada's voters are already 16.
-Dan
Posted on 03/07/2005 6:52:35 PM PST by Grig
Low voter turnout is a serious problem in Canada. Nearly 4 in 10 voters stayed away from the polls during the hotly contested election in 2004 so although the Liberals received 36% of ballots, it represents less than 23% of eligible voters. Something is very wrong.
In an effort to reverse declining rates of voter participation, four Members of Parliament have banded together in support of Bill C-261, a private member’s bill seeking to lower the age of voting to just 16. Liberal MP Mark Holland introduced the bill and is working together with Belinda Stronach (Conservative), Stéphane Bergeron (BQ) and Nathan Cullen (NDP) to see it passed into law. Hopefully they will fail.
The main argument made for lowing the voting age is that doing so will encourage young Canadians to develop a habit of exercising their franchise.
Although it is true that each successive cohort of voters participates less than the one before it, there is no evidence to show that this drop in participation from one cohort to the next is in any way linked to the age requirement for voting.
Elections Canada was so concerned about participation rates that after the 2000 election they commissioned a detailed study of non-voters. When non-voters were asked opened ended questions about why they themselves didn’t vote in the past election, the overwhelming reason given was their dissatisfaction with politicians and political institutions. General apathy came in a distant second, followed closely their belief that voting was meaningless. Nobody identified the current voting age of 18 as a cause for their lack of involvement.
In 1970 the Trudeau government lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 and voter turnout in the 1972 election only rose 1% even though 20% of eligible voters were new voters this time. From then onwards the turnout usually fell, never rising again to the 1972 levels.
Even though the 1972 cohort included the first 18-20 year olds ever to vote in a Canadian federal election, Election Canada’s report notes that today they are ‘participating at lower rates than those who entered earlier’. Lowering the age of voting seemed to do little more than create non-voters sooner and in greater numbers.
It isn’t hard to explain the result. Lowering the voting age trivializes the importance of voting. Its rite-of-passage status among teens is reduced and older voters feel their ballot is cancelled out by kids who pay virtually no taxes, shoulder no real responsibilities, have extremely little practical experience and who only recently began paying attention to the world around them. Disenfranchising convicts and raising the voting age back to 21 would do a lot more to encourage turnout.
It isn’t accurate to portray teens as being totally shut out of the political process. Teens can become members of political parties at the age of 14 and participate in their party’s youth wing. They can even vote in party leadership elections as my son did. There is no age restriction on being a campaign volunteer either.
Under the terms of the bill, 16 year olds would still be minors, barred from purchasing tobacco and alcohol. Giving teens the vote opens up the possibility of political pressure to remove those restrictions, or to pursue other reckless and naive ideas.
Winston Churchill said, “If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative at 40, you have no brain” and left wing politicians (I include Belinda in that category) frequently target the youngest voters as a natural constituency.
If Canadians are going to return to the polls in the same numbers they did in the past, then the real causes of low elector participation must be addressed. Politicians need to display a higher standard of personal integrity; parties need to disagree without resorting to demonizing each other, and MP’s must put the concerns of their constituents above the party platform. This is mature politics, and you won’t get it from immature voters.
-Dan
What in the world is wrong with Canada. this is rediculous. I don't know what the driving age is in Cananda, but most American kids can't even drive a car competently at 16.
I vote for what.
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Hard to believe they would seriously consider something like this. I sometimes feel that the voting age here should be 21. I cant think of anyone at this young age who is able to comprehend the complexities of the voting process and make an informed decision without being emotionally swayed by personal feelings, lacking the experience to separate those feelings from their decision. I'm not saying young people are not intelligent, just that without "real world" knowledge of politics, its irresponsible to have a voting age so young.
"Winston Churchill said, “If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart..."
No he didn't.
"Conservative by the time you're 35" If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain." There is no record of anyone hearing Churchill say this.
from the Churchill Centre I think they'd know.
Out in California they thought about doing people 16-18 would count as 3/5ths of a vote. I kid you not.
BTT for an excellent article.
"Out in California they thought about doing people 16-18 would count as 3/5ths of a vote. I kid you not."
Oh goody. Does that mean we can buy them?
Raise it to 30 and exclude females and those who don't own property.
Well, then it was Lincoln. Or Maybe Samuel Johnson.
Well, I have to say, after seeing your bio page, you are an exception to the rule. :)
I think parents should each get an extra vote for every child they have under 18. So if you have 6 children.. each parent gets 7 votes.
Right now the main people voting are either retired, near retirement or living off the syste in some other way like welfare.
Not surprisingly they almost always vote for more benefits for themselves.
Who in their right mind would WANT a 16-18 year old California punk?
Giuliani attributed it to Churchill when he used it. Oh well. I'll just tell people I heard it from Giuliani.
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