Now that the British government has undertaken to lower the age of the vote to 16 years by the next general elections, a Canadian senator says it is high time that Canada does the same.
The United Kingdom announced last week that it would lower the age of vote from 18 to 16 years old to strengthen British democracy and restore confidence in politics.
For Senator Manitobaine Marilou Mcpiedran, this question has been her “absolute parliamentary priority” since arriving in the Red Chamber.
She maintains that the lowering of the age of the vote at 16 is beneficial for democracy and that the only arguments against this measure “are based on stereotypes”.
Mme Mcpmedran stresses that the decisions currently taken in Canada affect the younger generations and that the extension of the right to vote to the youngest would be “logical” and “a question of equity”. About a third of 16-year-olds in Canada are employed and are already a taxpayer, she adds.
Do not wait
Jaden Braves, 16, and the organization he directs, young politicians in Canada, also want the age of voting to the federal part of 16.
For him, Canada “must stop living in the shadow of innovations from other countries that are progressing faster than us,” he told the Canadian press.
“I think we have to stop being the country waiting for someone else to take leadership on a subject on which we clearly have the opportunity to progress,” he said. I hope we will soon learn from it. »»
Braves deplores the numerous bills tabled in Canada in the past 20 years to lower the age of the vote, which have not been adopted.
The most recent bill of Marilou Mcpmedran aimed at lowering the age of vote at the federal level at 16 years old was tabled at the end of May. She argued that her priority was to make him go to the second reading and to send him back to the committee to take over parliamentary work in September.
“The last time there has been a extension [du Parlement] And elections, ”she said. The extension killed the bill after its passage at second reading in the Senate.
“But this time, our goal is to guarantee that young voices [et] Young leaders are heard directly by the senators, and I am convinced that when this will happen, the skeptics will change their mind, ”added Mr.me McPhedran.
The senator believes that the situation in the United Kingdom “will make a difference” for a number of senators while she continues to advance the bill.
During the debates on the previous texts, senators and deputies had rejected the arguments in favor of the lowering of the age of the vote, in particular the idea that this would increase electoral participation.
Some also questioned the maturity of young people to vote knowingly and debated the criteria to be used to justify the lowering of the age of the vote.
Regional changes first
The age of vote in the United Kingdom had been lowered for the last time in 1969, when the United Kingdom became one of the first great democracies to pass it from 21 to 18 years. Many other countries followed quickly, and Canada lowered the age of voting to 18 years in 1970.
Several countries have already set the age of voting at 16, notably Austria, Brazil and Ecuador. Scotland and Wales authorize young people aged 16 and 17 to vote in local and regional elections.
Michael Wigginton, postdoctoral researcher in political science at Carleton University, explains that the decision of the British government represents a “fairly natural evolution”, a decade after Scotland authorized 16 -year -old young people to vote for Scottish deputies and municipal elections.
“Being able to cite such a local example allows politicians and the general public to feel more comfortable with the idea that the reform can work for the British Parliament and not have negative effects,” said Wigginton.
Efforts are also made everywhere in Canada to lower the age of voting.
In 2021, young Canadians had submitted a request to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to contest the age of voting, arguing that Canada’s electoral law contravenes the charter of rights and freedoms and is unconstitutional.
Toronto recently adopted a motion allowing young people aged 16 and 17 to vote in neighborhood polling stations on urban planning and policy.
In British Columbia, a provincial committee seeking to stimulate democratic participation also studies the possibility of lowering the age of voting.
Even if he does not expect Canada immediately to adopt a minimum voting age at 16, Mr. Wigginton believes that the example of the United Kingdom “will certainly highlight the question and increase the chances that it happens in the future”.
“It is very likely that a province will first adopt a lower voting age, then that the federal government will eventually follow,” he said.
With information from the Associated Press
