Fresh from the lively, informative, well-attended election forum (video replay) at EMCS on Monday night that I helped organize with my Sooke Multi-Belief Initiative colleagues Koshin Moonfist and Andy Schell along with the Sooke Chamber of Commerce's Deb Schenk. I'm now inspired to share this set of links from many BC, Canadian and international sources related to voting, youth engagement, mis/dis/mal-information and the overall state of democracy.
I'll also post the slide we used the other night showing JDF-Malahat voting opportunities and locations starting next week. Repeating what so many are saying right now: Please vote at the advance polls or on election day, Sat. Oct. 19.
I assembled what follows not long after the municipal election in late 2022. While grateful for securing enough votes for a second term on council, I was among the many alarmed at the poor Sooke turnout -- just 26% of all total possible voters, down 16 points compared to 2018 and 11 behind the provincial average (37%). I was advised that this reflected overall voter satisfaction with the status quo (six of the seven in the 2018-2022 council were re-elected) and maybe that's the case. Or is it a puzzling matter of apathy at the level of government that, arguably, has the most direct impact on the lives of citizens. Whatever the case, how very disappointing that more of us didn't exercise our democratic rights.
Not that we were alone in a depressed turn-out. Similar double-digit downturns were seen in 2022 municipal races in Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Burnaby, Delta, Richmond, Sidney (-21 points), Oak Bay (-22), North Vancouver and Chilliwack. In fact, voter counts dropped just about everywhere in BC apart from Prince George (inching up to 26.2%) and Whistler (+2% to 35%).
Monday's Sooke forum demonstrated again that Election 2024 -- the 44th in BC's history -- is a tight, competitive race. The tension seen at last night's leaders' debate and the overall high level of interest in a pivotal moment for BC should translate into a high voter turnout, perhaps comparable with the 71% who voted in the 1996 provincial election. More recently, 61.2% cast a ballot in 2017 to elect Premier Horgan's minority government. COVID impacts likely are responsible for a decline to 54.5% in 2020.
Videographer Frank Antonsen filmed this fifth in a series of non-confrontational evenings hosted by the SMBI and the Chamber. He has now posted it to YouTube for anytime viewing. It was a fascinating, revealing evening that, for me at least, reconfirmed what I'd written on Faceback back in September: "I look forward to a new MLA from Sooke (and, no, I can't choose between two fine gentlemen I know, like and respect.)" Very much the same indecision for me today as I scratch my head and wonder again why we the people have twice rejected proportional representation. I'll need to make my call when alone in the ballot box with a graphite pencil.
(I take some small pride in having voted in very possible election from my first opportunity in the 1974 Ottawa municipal election. To remind myself of my mildly left of centre and, I believe, common-sense and compassionate worldview, I recently revisited the Political Compass. By answering its several dozen propositions, the bots positioned me on a four-quadrant map that covers the ideological landscape. I again found myself in the centre of the bottom left quadrant, aka "Left Libertarian." This result reflects my worldview and values, however it's important to note that decision-making at a municipal level doesn't involve many/most of the questions that shape the results. Nor should any political philosophy or party affiliation for that matter. Yet the Political Compass does, in its way, help voters know themselves. By all means try it yourself and see where you land.)
I agree with others that a minority government akin to what we saw in 2017 is the best possible outcome with three parties having a voice in the Legislative augmented perhaps by a few independents. All to be confirmed shortly after 8 PM two Saturdays from now.
In the meantime, here's a big picture overview to put this one of many elections past and future in perspective ...
Structure of This Post ...
1. Elections BC/Elections Canada
2. BC Municipal Elections Results 2008 to Present
3. BC Ministry of Education; core competencies/curriculum + CIVIX Canada Student Vote
4. Youth Engagement in Elections
5. BC Local Government Awareness Week (UBCM)
6. State of Democracy: World-Wide
7. State of Democracy: Canada
8. Misinformation and Disinformation
9. Voting Age Reduction Campaigns
The next BC general election is to be held on Oct. 19, 2024.
The next Canadian federal election is to be held on or before Oct. 20, 2025.
The next BC municipal and school trustee election is to be held on Oct. 17, 2026
1. Provincial and Federal: Elections BC, Elections Canada
- Elections BC: Democracy Kit
- Elections Ontario/Elections Canada: “Which Election?”
- Elections Canada:
- Research on Participation
- Elector Personas
- Local Government In BC (Robert L. Bish and Eric G. Clemens, fourth edition, UBCM - free PDF textbook)
- BC’s Electoral Process (BC Legislature)
- Electoral History of BC (1871-1986)
1987-2001
2002-2013
- History of Setting Electoral Boundaries (Elections BC)
- Recent Federal Elections – Voter Turnout By Province
2. BC Municipal Elections Results
CivicInfo BC
- Results database for 2008, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2022 municipal elections
- BC Election Results 2022
- Election Results 2018
- Voter turnout in this year's B.C. local elections remained low. So how did so much change?
(CBC, Oct. 16, 2022)
- It Didn’t Used To Be That Way: Why Voter Turnout Is So Low In BC and May Be Worse This Week (CBC, May 7, 2017)
- The Discourse: Nanaimo analysis (2022) - Fewer than one in four Nanaimo residents who were eligible to vote participated in the local election. Reporter Lys Morton explores what held some community members back
3. BC Ministry of Education
- Curriculum
- Core Competencies
“The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning. Along with literacy and numeracy foundations, they are central to British Columbia’s K-12 curriculum and assessment system and directly support students in their growth as educated citizens.”
- Core Competencies: Personal and Social
“The Personal and Social competency is the set of abilities that relate to students' identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society. Personal and Social competency encompasses what students need to thrive as individuals, to understand and care about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world.”
1. Personal Awareness and Responsibility
2. Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
3. Social Awareness and Responsibility
- Social Studies 5 – Canadian Issues and Governance
- Political Studies 12
- BC Ministry of Education: K-12 Digital Literacy Framework
Other youth vote sources …
- CIVIX Canada: Student Vote
- Elections BC
- Students and Youth page
- Future Voters
“One of the best ways young people can become lifelong voters is by voting in their first election. We also know that young people are more likely to vote if they are already registered. That is why the List of Future Voters is so important. It was created in 2019 through changes to B.C.’s Election Act. Anyone who is 16 or 17 years old, a resident of B.C., and a Canadian citizen can sign up so they are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. Once registered, they will receive important information from Elections BC about where, when and how to vote when a provincial election is called.”
4. Youth Engagement in Elections
- Statistics Canada: Portrait of Youth In Canada
- Chapter 6: Youth Political Participation & Civic Engagement
- City of Duncan Junior Council (council liaison is Jenni Capps)
5. Local Government Awareness Week
UBCM’s BC Local Government Awareness Week is traditionally the third week in May (May 12-18 in 2024). (scroll to bottom of page for toolkit with sample proclamation, community activities, youth engagement, etc.). BC Local Government Week resolution (Logan Lake) was passed at UBCM in 2009.
- Logan Lake: Local Government Awareness Week 2022
- CRD Local Government Awareness Week page
- Sample proclamation (Province of BC)
- Kootenay Boundary Regional District “How Well Do You Know Your Local Government” quiz plus prize pack
6. State of Democracy: World-Wide
- The Economist - Democracy Index (2020)
- The Global State of Democracy - International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Co-founded by the European Union: “International IDEA launched the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Initiative in 2016. This Initiative provides evidence-based, balanced analysis and data on the state and quality of democracy for 173 countries across the world. It aims to contribute to the public debate on democracy and inform policy interventions to strengthen democracy. The Initiative’s primary knowledge products are the Democracy Tracker, the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices, and the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Reports. The Initiative also includes regional partnership networks and research and advocacy related to Sustainable Development Goal 16.”
- Our World In Data: Democracy
- World Population Review: Countries With Mandatory Voting (2024)
- 22 Countries Where Voting Is Mandatory (NPR, Nov. 3, 2014)
“22 nations around the world make voting mandatory for its citizens, often starting at age 18, according to the CIA World Factbook. Several of these countries are in Latin America with a handful allowing citizens to age out of compulsory voting by as early as age 65. Altogether, an estimated 744 million people live in nations with compulsory voting laws.”
7. State of Democracy: Canada
- Canada: Muniscope
- Country report: Canada
- LABEL – Laboratory on Local Elections
LABEL is directed by Sandra Breux. Unlike the previous two research centres, LABEL also conducts qualitative studies. Themes explored include accountability/Responsiveness, information, election by acclamation, incumbent candidates, a survey of 4,000 Quebec electors regarding municipal elections, elected officials in small municipalities, profile of Projet Montréal candidates, young people and municipal elections, electors' stress and health self-assessment and their electoral participation, gender and professionalization of elected officials and election campaigns.
- The Canadian Municipal Election Study (Sept. 2021)
http://www.mmcgregor.ca/other - “I am the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Municipal Election Study, as well as the 2014 Toronto Election Study. I am a co-investigator on the Electronic Elections Project and the Multilevel Democracy Project. I hold an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and Science.”
- Voter Participation in Canada: Is Canadian Democracy In Crisis? (Carleton University, 2001)
- Canada's democracy is growing stronger as world weakens (CTV, Feb. 2021)
Only 4.5 per cent of the world’s population lives in a “full” democracy, while 44.3 per cent live in a “flawed” democracy – which includes countries like the United States, Japan, India and Colombia, the report says. The rest of the world’s population live in a hybrid or authoritarian regime – including China, Qatar and Russia. North Korea was the lowest-ranking country on the list.
8. Misinformation, Disinformation and Mal-Information
" UNESCO emphasizes three types of false information:
- Misinformation: Information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm
- Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country
- Mal-information: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, social group, organization or country."
- BC Ministry of Education: K-12 Digital Literacy Framework
- Institute for Public Relations: 2022 Disinformation in Canada Report
- United Nations: Countering Disinformation
- National Endowment for Democracy: "How Disinformation Impacts Politics and Publics"
- Types of Misinformation & Disinformation
- University of Victoria - "What Is Fake News?"
- Simon Fraser University - "How to Spot Fake News"
- Toronto Public Library - Fake News
- International Centre for Journalists - History of Fake News
- Greater Victoria School District, Spectrum Community School - Media Literacy
9. Voting Age Campaigns
- Elections Canada: Youth and the Right to Vote
- Voting Age Challenge (April, 2021) - David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights at the University of Toronto
- Why the Voting Age Needs to Be Lowered to Sixteen (The Walrus, July, 2022)
- Why Lowering the Voting Age Is Such a Good Idea (The Conversation, April 2022)
- Canada’s Voting Age Should Be Lowered (The Tyee, April 2022)
- Old Enough to Choose (CBC, Dec. 2021)
- Canada’s Voting Age Shouldn’t Be Lowered (Toronto Star, Sept. 28, 2022)
- Lowering the Voting Age Sounds Good … But In Practice? (Ottawa Citizen, July 2019)
British Columbia
- Bill 76 Election Amendment Act (1992)
“Although the Canadian government lowered the federal voting age from 21 to 18 in 1970, it wasn’t until 22 years later that British Columbia followed suit with the Elections Amendment Act, 1992, receiving Royal Assent on July 3rd, which lowered the provincial voting age from 19 to 18. This Act added about 40,000 B.C. residents to the list of eligible people that could vote in provincial elections. At the time, the discrepancy this Act created between the voting age of 18 and the legal drinking age of 19 was acknowledged as a contradiction, but not one that required a remedy.”
- Dogwood BC Campaign: Lower the Voting Age to 16 – #Vote16 (2018)
- Premier Horgan Open to Lowering the Voting Age to 16 (CBC, March 13, 2018)
- BC Moves to Allow Youth Aged 16 and 17 To Register to Vote (But Won’t Lower Voting Age) (Global News, Oct. 31, 2019)
“The B.C. government introduced legislation on Thursday giving the chief electoral officer the ability to maintain a list of future voters for youth aged 16 and 17 years, so they will be already registered when they reach the voting age of 18. “This bill represents the most significant modernization of elections administrations in a generation,” said Attorney General David Eby.
The goal of changing the registration policy is to increase youth voter turnout and engagement.
But the legislation falls short of the BC Greens’ promise to lower the provincial voting age to 16 years old. The government saying it is not considering looking at reducing the voting age at this time.”
- City of Vancouver Endorses Lowering Voter Age to 16 in Municipal Elections (2021)
Prince Edward Island
- Bill to Lower Voting Age Introduced in P.E.I. Legislature (CBC, April 2017)
- PEI MLAs Vote Down Proposal To Lower Voting Age (CBC, April 2021)
Children First Canada
Office in Victoria: 1(877) 837-2258
[email protected]
- Lowering the Voting Age in Canada (March 2020 study)
- Children First Canada Court Challenge
Toronto, December 1, 2021 – A group of Canadian children and youth are set to make history, opening the possibility that they and their peers may be able to cast a ballot in the next federal election. The 13 young people range in age between 12 to 18 years old and hail from coast to coast to coast, including Nunavut, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. They have filed an application at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to challenge the voting age in Canada, and are arguing that the Canada Elections Act, which prevents citizens under the age of 18 from voting in federal elections, is in violation of Sections 3 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is therefore unconstitutional.
- Kid’s Views On Their Role In Decision-Making, Their Rights and Issues In Canada (Oct. 2020, Abacus poll)
- Recommendations from Young Canadians (Young Canadians’ Parliament)
2023: https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/YCP-YouthReportandRecommendations-2023_EN.pdf
2022:https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/YCP-YouthReportandRecommendations-2022_EN-1.pdf
Canadian Senate bill introduced in 2021, debate continues this year
S-201: An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act (Voting Age) from 18 to 16
Now undergoing second reading
- Sponsor’s speech, Feb. 2022 … Hon. Marilou McPhedran
“Bill S-201 will improve Canada’s democratic representation by giving a political voice to people who are affected by government policy, but who have no significant means to influence it. Lowering the voting age will revitalize Canadian democracy by creating an environment where more young Canadians will vote for the first time and will thus be more likely to continue to vote for the rest of their lives, which will increase voter turnout in the long term. This will strengthen youth engagement. If we want young people to be full members of our society, we must make room for them at the table.”
- Response speech … Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition)
“Colleagues, as I said earlier, this decision is neither clear-cut nor scientific. But on balance, I believe that we have already struck the right compromise at the age of 18 and that this is consistent with the societal consensus regarding what constitutes adulthood.”
- Second reading debate continued … April 2023
- Latest round of Senate debate … June 2024
National Youth Rights Association (US)
https://www.youthrights.org/issues/voting-age/top-ten-reasons-to-lower-the-voting-age/
British Youth Council
https://www.byc.org.uk/campaigns/votes-at-16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votes_at_16
Voting Age (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_age
Voting Age Around the World
- 86% of countries – voting begins at 18
Following allow voting at 16: Brazil, Ecuador, Austria, Cuba, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Nicaragua, Scotland, Argentina
- Scotland permitted voting at 16 starting with referendum vote in 2014
- Sheffield University study of youth voting from 2014 to 2021
Okay, now please vote ...
I'll also post the slide we used the other night showing JDF-Malahat voting opportunities and locations starting next week. Repeating what so many are saying right now: Please vote at the advance polls or on election day, Sat. Oct. 19.
I assembled what follows not long after the municipal election in late 2022. While grateful for securing enough votes for a second term on council, I was among the many alarmed at the poor Sooke turnout -- just 26% of all total possible voters, down 16 points compared to 2018 and 11 behind the provincial average (37%). I was advised that this reflected overall voter satisfaction with the status quo (six of the seven in the 2018-2022 council were re-elected) and maybe that's the case. Or is it a puzzling matter of apathy at the level of government that, arguably, has the most direct impact on the lives of citizens. Whatever the case, how very disappointing that more of us didn't exercise our democratic rights.
Not that we were alone in a depressed turn-out. Similar double-digit downturns were seen in 2022 municipal races in Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Burnaby, Delta, Richmond, Sidney (-21 points), Oak Bay (-22), North Vancouver and Chilliwack. In fact, voter counts dropped just about everywhere in BC apart from Prince George (inching up to 26.2%) and Whistler (+2% to 35%).
Monday's Sooke forum demonstrated again that Election 2024 -- the 44th in BC's history -- is a tight, competitive race. The tension seen at last night's leaders' debate and the overall high level of interest in a pivotal moment for BC should translate into a high voter turnout, perhaps comparable with the 71% who voted in the 1996 provincial election. More recently, 61.2% cast a ballot in 2017 to elect Premier Horgan's minority government. COVID impacts likely are responsible for a decline to 54.5% in 2020.
Videographer Frank Antonsen filmed this fifth in a series of non-confrontational evenings hosted by the SMBI and the Chamber. He has now posted it to YouTube for anytime viewing. It was a fascinating, revealing evening that, for me at least, reconfirmed what I'd written on Faceback back in September: "I look forward to a new MLA from Sooke (and, no, I can't choose between two fine gentlemen I know, like and respect.)" Very much the same indecision for me today as I scratch my head and wonder again why we the people have twice rejected proportional representation. I'll need to make my call when alone in the ballot box with a graphite pencil.
(I take some small pride in having voted in very possible election from my first opportunity in the 1974 Ottawa municipal election. To remind myself of my mildly left of centre and, I believe, common-sense and compassionate worldview, I recently revisited the Political Compass. By answering its several dozen propositions, the bots positioned me on a four-quadrant map that covers the ideological landscape. I again found myself in the centre of the bottom left quadrant, aka "Left Libertarian." This result reflects my worldview and values, however it's important to note that decision-making at a municipal level doesn't involve many/most of the questions that shape the results. Nor should any political philosophy or party affiliation for that matter. Yet the Political Compass does, in its way, help voters know themselves. By all means try it yourself and see where you land.)
I agree with others that a minority government akin to what we saw in 2017 is the best possible outcome with three parties having a voice in the Legislative augmented perhaps by a few independents. All to be confirmed shortly after 8 PM two Saturdays from now.
In the meantime, here's a big picture overview to put this one of many elections past and future in perspective ...
Structure of This Post ...
1. Elections BC/Elections Canada
2. BC Municipal Elections Results 2008 to Present
3. BC Ministry of Education; core competencies/curriculum + CIVIX Canada Student Vote
4. Youth Engagement in Elections
5. BC Local Government Awareness Week (UBCM)
6. State of Democracy: World-Wide
7. State of Democracy: Canada
8. Misinformation and Disinformation
9. Voting Age Reduction Campaigns
The next BC general election is to be held on Oct. 19, 2024.
The next Canadian federal election is to be held on or before Oct. 20, 2025.
The next BC municipal and school trustee election is to be held on Oct. 17, 2026
1. Provincial and Federal: Elections BC, Elections Canada
- Elections BC: Democracy Kit
- Elections Ontario/Elections Canada: “Which Election?”
- Elections Canada:
- Research on Participation
- Elector Personas
- Local Government In BC (Robert L. Bish and Eric G. Clemens, fourth edition, UBCM - free PDF textbook)
- BC’s Electoral Process (BC Legislature)
- Electoral History of BC (1871-1986)
1987-2001
2002-2013
- History of Setting Electoral Boundaries (Elections BC)
- Recent Federal Elections – Voter Turnout By Province
2. BC Municipal Elections Results
CivicInfo BC
- Results database for 2008, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2022 municipal elections
- BC Election Results 2022
- Election Results 2018
- Voter turnout in this year's B.C. local elections remained low. So how did so much change?
(CBC, Oct. 16, 2022)
- It Didn’t Used To Be That Way: Why Voter Turnout Is So Low In BC and May Be Worse This Week (CBC, May 7, 2017)
- The Discourse: Nanaimo analysis (2022) - Fewer than one in four Nanaimo residents who were eligible to vote participated in the local election. Reporter Lys Morton explores what held some community members back
3. BC Ministry of Education
- Curriculum
- Core Competencies
“The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning. Along with literacy and numeracy foundations, they are central to British Columbia’s K-12 curriculum and assessment system and directly support students in their growth as educated citizens.”
- Core Competencies: Personal and Social
“The Personal and Social competency is the set of abilities that relate to students' identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society. Personal and Social competency encompasses what students need to thrive as individuals, to understand and care about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world.”
1. Personal Awareness and Responsibility
2. Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
3. Social Awareness and Responsibility
- Social Studies 5 – Canadian Issues and Governance
- Political Studies 12
- BC Ministry of Education: K-12 Digital Literacy Framework
Other youth vote sources …
- CIVIX Canada: Student Vote
- Elections BC
- Students and Youth page
- Future Voters
“One of the best ways young people can become lifelong voters is by voting in their first election. We also know that young people are more likely to vote if they are already registered. That is why the List of Future Voters is so important. It was created in 2019 through changes to B.C.’s Election Act. Anyone who is 16 or 17 years old, a resident of B.C., and a Canadian citizen can sign up so they are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. Once registered, they will receive important information from Elections BC about where, when and how to vote when a provincial election is called.”
4. Youth Engagement in Elections
- Statistics Canada: Portrait of Youth In Canada
- Chapter 6: Youth Political Participation & Civic Engagement
- City of Duncan Junior Council (council liaison is Jenni Capps)
5. Local Government Awareness Week
UBCM’s BC Local Government Awareness Week is traditionally the third week in May (May 12-18 in 2024). (scroll to bottom of page for toolkit with sample proclamation, community activities, youth engagement, etc.). BC Local Government Week resolution (Logan Lake) was passed at UBCM in 2009.
- Logan Lake: Local Government Awareness Week 2022
- CRD Local Government Awareness Week page
- Sample proclamation (Province of BC)
- Kootenay Boundary Regional District “How Well Do You Know Your Local Government” quiz plus prize pack
6. State of Democracy: World-Wide
- The Economist - Democracy Index (2020)
- The Global State of Democracy - International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Co-founded by the European Union: “International IDEA launched the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Initiative in 2016. This Initiative provides evidence-based, balanced analysis and data on the state and quality of democracy for 173 countries across the world. It aims to contribute to the public debate on democracy and inform policy interventions to strengthen democracy. The Initiative’s primary knowledge products are the Democracy Tracker, the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices, and the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Reports. The Initiative also includes regional partnership networks and research and advocacy related to Sustainable Development Goal 16.”
- Our World In Data: Democracy
- World Population Review: Countries With Mandatory Voting (2024)
- 22 Countries Where Voting Is Mandatory (NPR, Nov. 3, 2014)
“22 nations around the world make voting mandatory for its citizens, often starting at age 18, according to the CIA World Factbook. Several of these countries are in Latin America with a handful allowing citizens to age out of compulsory voting by as early as age 65. Altogether, an estimated 744 million people live in nations with compulsory voting laws.”
7. State of Democracy: Canada
- Canada: Muniscope
- Country report: Canada
- LABEL – Laboratory on Local Elections
LABEL is directed by Sandra Breux. Unlike the previous two research centres, LABEL also conducts qualitative studies. Themes explored include accountability/Responsiveness, information, election by acclamation, incumbent candidates, a survey of 4,000 Quebec electors regarding municipal elections, elected officials in small municipalities, profile of Projet Montréal candidates, young people and municipal elections, electors' stress and health self-assessment and their electoral participation, gender and professionalization of elected officials and election campaigns.
- The Canadian Municipal Election Study (Sept. 2021)
http://www.mmcgregor.ca/other - “I am the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Municipal Election Study, as well as the 2014 Toronto Election Study. I am a co-investigator on the Electronic Elections Project and the Multilevel Democracy Project. I hold an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and Science.”
- Voter Participation in Canada: Is Canadian Democracy In Crisis? (Carleton University, 2001)
- Canada's democracy is growing stronger as world weakens (CTV, Feb. 2021)
Only 4.5 per cent of the world’s population lives in a “full” democracy, while 44.3 per cent live in a “flawed” democracy – which includes countries like the United States, Japan, India and Colombia, the report says. The rest of the world’s population live in a hybrid or authoritarian regime – including China, Qatar and Russia. North Korea was the lowest-ranking country on the list.
8. Misinformation, Disinformation and Mal-Information
" UNESCO emphasizes three types of false information:
- Misinformation: Information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm
- Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization or country
- Mal-information: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, social group, organization or country."
- BC Ministry of Education: K-12 Digital Literacy Framework
- Institute for Public Relations: 2022 Disinformation in Canada Report
- United Nations: Countering Disinformation
- National Endowment for Democracy: "How Disinformation Impacts Politics and Publics"
- Types of Misinformation & Disinformation
- University of Victoria - "What Is Fake News?"
- Simon Fraser University - "How to Spot Fake News"
- Toronto Public Library - Fake News
- International Centre for Journalists - History of Fake News
- Greater Victoria School District, Spectrum Community School - Media Literacy
9. Voting Age Campaigns
- Elections Canada: Youth and the Right to Vote
- Voting Age Challenge (April, 2021) - David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights at the University of Toronto
- Why the Voting Age Needs to Be Lowered to Sixteen (The Walrus, July, 2022)
- Why Lowering the Voting Age Is Such a Good Idea (The Conversation, April 2022)
- Canada’s Voting Age Should Be Lowered (The Tyee, April 2022)
- Old Enough to Choose (CBC, Dec. 2021)
- Canada’s Voting Age Shouldn’t Be Lowered (Toronto Star, Sept. 28, 2022)
- Lowering the Voting Age Sounds Good … But In Practice? (Ottawa Citizen, July 2019)
British Columbia
- Bill 76 Election Amendment Act (1992)
“Although the Canadian government lowered the federal voting age from 21 to 18 in 1970, it wasn’t until 22 years later that British Columbia followed suit with the Elections Amendment Act, 1992, receiving Royal Assent on July 3rd, which lowered the provincial voting age from 19 to 18. This Act added about 40,000 B.C. residents to the list of eligible people that could vote in provincial elections. At the time, the discrepancy this Act created between the voting age of 18 and the legal drinking age of 19 was acknowledged as a contradiction, but not one that required a remedy.”
- Dogwood BC Campaign: Lower the Voting Age to 16 – #Vote16 (2018)
- Premier Horgan Open to Lowering the Voting Age to 16 (CBC, March 13, 2018)
- BC Moves to Allow Youth Aged 16 and 17 To Register to Vote (But Won’t Lower Voting Age) (Global News, Oct. 31, 2019)
“The B.C. government introduced legislation on Thursday giving the chief electoral officer the ability to maintain a list of future voters for youth aged 16 and 17 years, so they will be already registered when they reach the voting age of 18. “This bill represents the most significant modernization of elections administrations in a generation,” said Attorney General David Eby.
The goal of changing the registration policy is to increase youth voter turnout and engagement.
But the legislation falls short of the BC Greens’ promise to lower the provincial voting age to 16 years old. The government saying it is not considering looking at reducing the voting age at this time.”
- City of Vancouver Endorses Lowering Voter Age to 16 in Municipal Elections (2021)
Prince Edward Island
- Bill to Lower Voting Age Introduced in P.E.I. Legislature (CBC, April 2017)
- PEI MLAs Vote Down Proposal To Lower Voting Age (CBC, April 2021)
Children First Canada
Office in Victoria: 1(877) 837-2258
[email protected]
- Lowering the Voting Age in Canada (March 2020 study)
- Children First Canada Court Challenge
Toronto, December 1, 2021 – A group of Canadian children and youth are set to make history, opening the possibility that they and their peers may be able to cast a ballot in the next federal election. The 13 young people range in age between 12 to 18 years old and hail from coast to coast to coast, including Nunavut, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. They have filed an application at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to challenge the voting age in Canada, and are arguing that the Canada Elections Act, which prevents citizens under the age of 18 from voting in federal elections, is in violation of Sections 3 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is therefore unconstitutional.
- Kid’s Views On Their Role In Decision-Making, Their Rights and Issues In Canada (Oct. 2020, Abacus poll)
- Recommendations from Young Canadians (Young Canadians’ Parliament)
2023: https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/YCP-YouthReportandRecommendations-2023_EN.pdf
2022:https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/YCP-YouthReportandRecommendations-2022_EN-1.pdf
Canadian Senate bill introduced in 2021, debate continues this year
S-201: An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act (Voting Age) from 18 to 16
Now undergoing second reading
- Sponsor’s speech, Feb. 2022 … Hon. Marilou McPhedran
“Bill S-201 will improve Canada’s democratic representation by giving a political voice to people who are affected by government policy, but who have no significant means to influence it. Lowering the voting age will revitalize Canadian democracy by creating an environment where more young Canadians will vote for the first time and will thus be more likely to continue to vote for the rest of their lives, which will increase voter turnout in the long term. This will strengthen youth engagement. If we want young people to be full members of our society, we must make room for them at the table.”
- Response speech … Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition)
“Colleagues, as I said earlier, this decision is neither clear-cut nor scientific. But on balance, I believe that we have already struck the right compromise at the age of 18 and that this is consistent with the societal consensus regarding what constitutes adulthood.”
- Second reading debate continued … April 2023
- Latest round of Senate debate … June 2024
National Youth Rights Association (US)
https://www.youthrights.org/issues/voting-age/top-ten-reasons-to-lower-the-voting-age/
British Youth Council
https://www.byc.org.uk/campaigns/votes-at-16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votes_at_16
Voting Age (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_age
Voting Age Around the World
- 86% of countries – voting begins at 18
Following allow voting at 16: Brazil, Ecuador, Austria, Cuba, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Nicaragua, Scotland, Argentina
- Scotland permitted voting at 16 starting with referendum vote in 2014
- Sheffield University study of youth voting from 2014 to 2021
Okay, now please vote ...
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