Andrew Weaver’s bill may seem a tad self serving.
The B.C. Green Party leader and MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head re-introduced the Election Amendment Act 1 in the legislature this week. The bill would allow 16-year-olds to vote in B.C.
Chances are Weaver believes young people are more interested in the future of the planet than older folks are. And that those same young voters will see his party as sharing those principles. This may be a big assumption, or not.
It’s true that young people today are certainly exposed more to environmental issues. The media 20 years ago seldom mentioned climate change. Today, whether you get your news directly from mainstream sources or via Facebook, concerns about the planet’s environmental future are ever present.
Now, whether young people believe that politics can actually change things, is another matter altogether. And whether they won’t be as self-serving as older voters is another question.
The number of young voters compared to older voters in every Canadian election is still much smaller.
In the 2015 federal election, the participation of voters aged 18 to 24 was 57.1 per cent. Participation of voters aged 25 to 34 was 57.4 per cent. But voters aged 65 to 74 continued to have the highest participation rate of all age groups, with 78.8 per cent.
It would appear that unless more young voters get out to vote, politicians will continue to cater to the concerns of older voters. And those concerns are often about keeping the status quo – not changing it. But what is perhaps equally interesting is that more younger voters turned out to vote than in the previous federal election in 2011. In fact voters aged 18 to 24 increased by 18.3 percentage points compared to 2011. That was the largest increase for this age group since Elections Canada began reporting demographic data on turnout in 2004. In comparison, the increase in voter participation for voters aged 65 to 74 was only 3.7 per cent.
If the trend continues, young voters could have a real impact on politics in Canada.
But will they?
Weaver is trying to boost those odds a bit by lowering the voting age in B.C.
We doubt his bill has legs, but it may give us a little window into the future. And as far as tipping points go where demographics and voters are concerned, only time will truly tell.
