THUNDER BAY — A final report on last year’s municipal election sparked ruminations over depressed turnout among residents under 40 years old, only about a quarter of whom showed up to the polls.
The numbers show an even more exaggerated version of the phenomenon low youth voter turnout that’s long been observed at the provincial and federal levels.
While over 50 per cent of eligible voters aged 60 to 90 cast a ballot in last year’s municipal race, only 25 per cent of those 18 to 29, and 27 per cent of those 30 to 39, did the same.
In a city council meeting last week, Coun. Andrew Foulds said those numbers should set off alarm bells at city hall.
“This is probably the high school teacher in me and how well our civics seems to be working, where if you’re under 40, you’re basically not voting,” he said. “I’m shocked at how low that data is.”
“What concerns me about this data is this is now public information,” he added. “The people who are going to be running in the next election, they need to target people who are 50 or above, and their issues – because those are the people who are voting.”
“They’re not the only consumers of public services, but they’re the ones who are voicing their concerns. There’s a much greater democratic problem here.”
City clerk Krista Power acknowledged disappointment over the results, while calling them part of a national trend – and noting Thunder Bay’s 43 per cent voter turnout had still remained higher than the historically low 36 per cent average across Ontario.
“I was really disappointed with our numbers – I really wanted to reach the 50 per cent,” she said. “To be at the 43 was challenging for our team, considering all the time and effort we put in to try to make voting so accessible.”
While some councillors asked if the city should consider organizing more candidate debates, Power suggested that was best left to civil society groups, pointing to efforts by the public library and chamber of commerce.
Yamandeep Malhi, vice-president operations and finance with the Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU), believes more should be done to make voting accessible and to engage youth on municipal issues.
“Without engaging our youth voters, municipal leaders cannot fully address the issues faced by our community,” he said.
He said he encourages the city to consider steps like creating platforms where candidates can directly interact with youth, to increase use of social media channels, and to collaborate with youth-led organizations to promote elections.
He also said on-campus polling stations – something the city did not offer at either the college or university last year – would help.
That may be less crucial than in the past, as young people are far more likely to vote online than in-person. More than three-quarters of those under the age of 50 voted online in last year’s election, while less than half of those 70 and older did so.
Toby Rollo, an associate professor and chair of Lakehead University’s political science department who specializes in democratic theory, said in an interview that low youth turnout has a significant impact.
“If you analyze policy, you quickly see that decision-making at pretty much every level of government cater to those who turn out,” he said. “So it’s like a negative feedback thing, where the Boomers generally turn out in the greatest numbers proportionally to their demographic, so politicians cater to them the most, and youth historically have not been catered to that much.”
While he said it is possible for politicians to harness the youth vote, he said it takes real engagement with youth — and often candidates who are themselves on the younger side — to accomplish.
“Attempts to reach out to youth generally don’t work all that much — they come off as really contrived and cheesy,” he said. “Youth see right through it, typically.”
“They sense that the sort of things politicians say about tuition or job opportunities … the sorts of things youth care about — they’re seen as token platform features that are just included to try to get them out. They’re a lot smarter than politicians think.”
“The one thing that has proven to get youth turning out is not politicians reaching out, but politicians actually centring young people in their campaign platforms and coming through with substantive policy.”
Rollo called that a riskier political strategy few serious candidates are willing to bet on.
“When you do that, of course, you’re necessarily sacrificing some of your energy and platform space that would be devoted to the sure-thing voters, the Boomers. So it’s a gamble, and usually politicians … go for the sure thing, which is the Gen X and Boomers.”
Malhi said he sees potential for youth to be more engaged, but agreed efforts have to go beyond the surface-level.
“Candidates should actively seek input from youth and incorporate it into their platforms. The leaders of tomorrow at the municipal level can offer to create spaces for youth to engage such as a youth advisory committee, volunteer positions or internships.”
Issues that have resonated most with Lakehead students in recent years include climate justice and divesting from fossil fuels, and rising tuition fees, especially for international students, he added.
With a review of city council’s size and composition launching this year, Power said the city is looking to engage youth in the process that could shape their future voting options.
“We’re planning to take that to the schools, in hopes to be able to say, this is how you can [have] some say in how council forms the people who sit around this table,” she told council.
Those kinds of moves to engage youth in the democratic process before they reach voting age could pay dividends, Elections Canada suggests.
The agency’s 2015 national youth survey found young voters were much more likely to report they had participated in a mock election or learned about government and politics in high school.
