On voting day in Ontario, we vote on behalf of our youth
Originally published in the Sudbury Star
On June 2, shortly after 5 pm, I was driving home along Latimer Crescent, the current detour route for the 2022 season of sewer, water main, and road repair on Loach’s Road. Suddenly, I came upon two teenaged boys, who vigorously flagged me down as I rounded a bend. I stopped the car, rolled down my window, and cheerfully said, “Hi, guys!”
One of them replied, “We’re asking people whether they’ve voted. Have you voted?”
As luck would have it, I was at that moment returning home from the polling station at Lo-Ellen High School. So I said, “Why yes, I have. Just now. Have you?”
“No,” the lad replied more solemnly.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“I’m too young,” he replied. “I’m only 14.”
I asked him why he thought voting was important. He told me that voting was good for the political system, which indeed it is.
If I’d been on my toes at the time of this brief conversation, I would have asked the lad what issues were most important to him and why. And since that day, I’ve pondered what responsibility I have, as a adult, to represent his views and concerns until he’s old enough to have a political voice of his own.
As a voter in the recent provincial election, I was amongst the minority. Ontario has approximately 10.7 million registered voters; only 4.6 million of us chose to cast our ballot. Such a lackluster turnout at the polls must be discouraging for our youth, who are concerned and anxious about the state of the world but are forced to rely on adults to represent them politically.
Consider the climate-health issue. A research study[1] published last fall revealed that two-thirds of 16-25 year-olds around the world believe that their governments are failing them, even lying about the impact of their actions in regard to climate change. Over half feel betrayed. Only about a quarter believe that government action is in line with science, or that enough is being done to avert climate catastrophe. As a result of their fears for the future, over one-third express hesitance to have children. The exact numbers vary from country to country, and Canada was not surveyed, but the results I’ve quoted do reflect the views of youth in the USA and Australia.
On June 2nd, less than 18 percent of Ontario’s eligible voters re-elected the same majority government that has already displayed its disregard for an issue of such concern to our youth. Rather than taking action to reduce Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions, this government has spent millions in taxpayer money taking the Feds to court over carbon pricing.
Given their inability to influence government with their votes, it’s perhaps not surprising that youth around the world are turning to the legal system in an effort to force their governments to protect their future. Such an action is happening right here in Ontario. In 2019, a group of seven youth, one of them from Sudbury, launched legal action against the Ford government for “tearing up the province’s climate laws and violating their Charter rights to life, liberty, and security of the person.”
[1] Lancet Planet Health. 2021 Dec;5(12):e863-e873. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3
Abstract available here: https://pubmed-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.lib.nosm.ca/34895496/