On Tuesday March 25 2014, from 4pm to 5:30pm, Justin Trudeau will be in FSS. Well actually, Justin Trudeau, Elizabeth May, Thomas Mulcair and Micheal Chong will be in FSS sitting on a panel discussing the impact of the youth vote. However, Trudeau’s name sticks out, because even if you aren’t interested in Canadian politics, most youth know the name of the Liberal party leader that openly discussed smoking pot.
What does this have to do with voting?
The simple fact is youth don’t vote and are not informed. A representative for the event I Vote-Je Vote stated that the demographic with the lowest voter turn-out are eighteen to twenty four year olds. This is why students from Carleton, Algonquin and the University of Ottawa banded together to create the event I Vote- Je Vote. The purpose of their efforts is to give students opportunities to listen to the leaders of political parties speak and to create an environment where students can get the information they need to make an informed vote.
If youth don’t vote, why would they pre-register to go listen to well-rehearsed speeches from politicians twice their age? That is, other than to see the infamous Justin Trudeau of course.
The leaders have received questions and topics beforehand to prepare themselves and there is some time allotted for student questions at the event. No comment was provided on whether or not questions would be censored.
A flaw in this initiative is that the students who are already well informed or involved in Canadian politics are going to be the most interested in this panel discussion, therefore diminishing the effectiveness of this event. This problem was realized by the organizers and an online campaign began in order to spark the interest of students from all faculties, not just Social Sciences.
The students organizing the event are well versed in politics and speak professionally regarding the event. Sara Minaeian, an organizer of I Vote- Je Vote, said that the organizers hoped to achieve “a full on social movement” from the event, and that their ambitions may be achieved as other universities are already contacting them for advice. The event is viewed by the organizers as unprecedented.
When asked why students who aren’t politically involved or interested should dedicate their time to this event, a representative commented that, “politics affects everyone.”
The University of Ottawa can be described in many ways, but ‘political’ is one of the first words that comes to my mind personally. Events such as I Vote- Je Vote are not uncommon on this campus and many political and development based workshops have taken place over the year. It is not surprising that an event is taking place where political party leaders will be present, and politics are so rampant on campus that any novelty the event had to students not interested in politics has quickly faded.
Even so, the organizers barrel forward and I Vote- Je Vote has 1000 students registered online confirming their attendance. Phone calls are in the process of being made to each student who registered online in order to ensure a successful turn out.
The event will be fully bilingual, with each comment or speech presented in both English and French.
In order to attend, students must register through the website www.eventbrite.ca.
I Vote- Je Vote has a Facebook page that provides more information on the event and provides another opportunity for students to register. The entire FSS building will be shut down for the day to accommodate the initiative.
If you want to get informed for the 2015 Federal election, here is your opportunity.
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