Think globally, vote locally: Young people can’t fight City Hall if they don’t vote By Loren McGinnis here Original Article ‘here’ contributing writer Loren McGinnis is taking part in a forum on Canada’s role in the world, March 11-15, in Quebec. In the last federal election, only one in four eligible young Canadians headed to the polls to vote. Gone are the days when people view democratic participaoin as a watershed. Instead, the first time we cast a vote, if we vote at all, is a blip in between the more momentous occasions of getting a driver’s licence and legally drinking a beer. But ask someone who is 25 where they want Canada to be in 2025 and their answer is going to be quite different than someone who is 55. The differences in perspective are obvious, but there is growing concern over young Canadians who are not being granted, and are not seizing, the opportunity to weigh in on public policy debates that will shape their future. Voter turnout is the most dramatic example. This decrease in interest and participation spurred the development of Canada 25 - a non-partisan political organization aimed at giving a political voice to Canadians between the ages of 20 and 35. From March 11-15 I will be one of 25 delegates attending Canada 25’s national forum on Canada’s role in the world. Since Christmas, I have been working in a small group focused on the issue of governance. My topic in particular is the human right of electoral and democratic participation - a right that is often taken for granted. Looking for a context for this article, I flipped on the television to watch the signing of Iraq’s interim constitution. CNN had coverage but, in the hope of finding something homegrown, I went channel surfing. Before I landed on the CBC, I hit upon Roger’s Cable coverage of the Saint John Common Council debate on the merits of a ward system. The contrasting images were a timely reminder of the confusion that arose while I did my research. The more I read, the less clear my topic became. I began to ask basic questions: What are the barriers to democratic participation? Who is being excluded from various democratic processes? Can Canada have an impact on democracies other than its own? The question of what prevents people from participating is particularly interesting because of all of the different answers. In some places, people are not free to participate. In other places people are not given enough information to participate. And in other places, like Canada, many people seem to have lost interest and connection with the political process. Who is being excluded is tightly related to the question of barriers. In many cases, including Saint John and Canada, women are conspicuously under-represented in elected circles. Many would argue that representation based on geography is important, but not sufficient on its own. My research was originally aimed at contexts like Iraq or Haiti: How can Canadians help war-torn and developing countries honour the human right of their citizens to elect governments and participate in a democratic society? But the process led me to a somewhat unexpected conclusion. Namely that democracy is, for everyone, a very local issue. One of the grand challenges facing new democracies is “the winner takes all” philosophy. That is, in a harshly divided election one side wins and the other side, the minority, is shut out of any consideration and is forced to suffer until another election or to revolt and overthrow an elected government. The current debate over whether Saint John citizens would be well served by a ward system has some of the overtones of a winner takes all philosophy. While Common Council argues (truthfully) that they make a financial investment in the South End, it is hard to spot the effort being made by councillors to bring South Enders themselves into the political decision-making process. The South End is one of Saint John’s under-represented minorities, which includes youth, women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds. It is a stretch to spend too much time drawing connections between a developing democracy and Saint John municipal politics. On the other hand, the question of participation, particularly of young Canadians, is important in both cases and is the challenge taken up by Canada25. The notion that young Canadians are going to have to live with the results of Canada’s current foreign policy and “role in the world” is true and largely analogous to the fact that young Saint Johners are going to live with the choices of this mayor and group of councillors. It is the global reality as well as the local reality that fuels Canada 25’s efforts to reengage young Canadians in the public policy debate. In the end, my working group on governance concluded that underlying all of our ideas on various elements of governance was the theme of legitimacy. From environmental policy and corporate responsibility to democratic participation, the need to develop and maintain legitimacy seems to be the foundation of sustainable governance. And so at the national forum this weekend in Quebec, we will create policy recommendations that take Canada from being a middle power to a model power. Canada cannot derive its international credibility through economic or military clout. The hope for Canada seems to be that we model, or demonstrate, the values and practices that we hope to espouse in international affairs. The same can be said of young Saint Johners and Canadians: If we want to have a say in the affairs of our city or country, we’ve got to fight our own apathy and cynicism with engagement. As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the House of Commons recently, half hearted participation will inevitably lead to failure. © Copyright 2003 Canada25