Should voting in Canada start at age 16? Teens lead the charge in Toronto

Expert presents arguments for and against

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

A group of teenagers is pushing for Toronto to lower the voting age in municipal elections from 18 to 16.
This would not allow them to vote in municipal elections, but it would give them a say in the changes in their neighborhoods.
They say this effort is a first step in a broader movement to lower the voting age in all elections at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.
Read on to hear arguments for and against the change.

When Toronto City Council meets this week for its November meeting, 16-year-old Jaden Braves and 17-year-old Sarah Morra will be present.

Because? Because they want Toronto – and eventually the rest of Canada – to take young people’s voices more seriously.

Jaden and Sarah helped create a motion that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in something called municipal polls, giving them a say in changes made to their neighborhoods.

Toronto city councilors are scheduled to debate and vote on his motion this week.

The teens say their effort is the first step in a broader movement to lower Canada’s voting age to 16 in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

Municipal surveys in Toronto

Jaden Braves is the executive director and founder of Canada’s Young Politicians and has been involved in politics for several years.

He was the youngest person to be elected to the federal council of the Green Party of Canada.

“But I always felt like, as a young person in politics, it was difficult for my voice to be heard or taken seriously,” said the 16-year-old from Toronto.

“It’s just obvious to me. Many 16-year-olds have jobs, pay taxes, use transportation and other public services. “We should have a say in making decisions about the things we use.”

Jaden Braves, executive director of Canada’s Young Politicians, left, and Aleksi Toivianan, national co-director of Vote16, in front of Toronto City Hall. (Image submitted by Jaden Braves)

So Jaden teamed up with Aleksi Toiviainen to try to change that.

Aleksi is part of a group called Vote16. Its mission is to reduce the voting age in federal, provincial and territorial elections.

“We thought, ‘Why don’t we do this at the municipal level and show the rest of the country that something like this could work on a smaller scale?’” Jaden said.

Jaden, Aleksi and several other young Canadians approached Toronto city councilors to build MM22.6, a motion that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city polls.

City surveys give homeowners, residents and businesses a say in changes to their neighborhoods, such as creating speed bumps or transportation routes.

Jaden said changing the voting age in municipal elections from 18 to 16 would help empower young Canadians to get involved in democracy from the beginning.

“It’s almost like taking those civics lessons we received in grades 9 and 10 and applying them to real life in a low-risk environment,” he said.

Sarah Morra, a 17-year-old who is also participating in the motion, believes it is a good starting point.

“I think lowering the voting age in this low-risk way allows young people to be more civic-minded, involved in their community and prepared for higher-risk voting,” he said.

Sarah Morra said allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote at the city polls could help young people become more civic-minded. (Image credit: Submitted by Sarah Morra)

Sarah said she doesn’t see a huge difference between a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, so it’s best to start developing voting habits earlier if we can.

Jaden made a similar argument.

“A 16-year-old can drive a car, but he cannot vote in our democracy. I would say that being able to vote is a much lower risk.”

The municipal, provincial and federal effort

In Canada, a major effort is underway to lower the voting age to 16 in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

Eleven Canadian municipalities have passed motions to raise the voting age in some way, including Calgary, Alberta; Burnaby, British Columbia; and Brampton, Ont.

Those local efforts are largely symbolic: it is up to provinces to change election laws for local and provincial elections. But Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran says they still send an important message.

Manitoba Senator Marilou McPhedran is responsible for a bill that could lower the voting age in federal elections in Canada from 18 to 16. (Image credit: Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

“These are signals to provincial governments that change is happening, that support is growing for lowering the voting age to 16,” McPhedran told CBC Kids News.

McPhedran said lowering the voting age would strengthen democracy. She is responsible for Bill S-201, a bill active in the Senate that, if passed, would allow 16- and 17-year-old Canadians to vote in federal elections.

He said Jaden and Sarah’s efforts in Toronto could be the most important yet in turning the tide, as Toronto is Canada’s largest municipality.

“If you see significant change in Toronto, it can inform what’s happening in many other parts of the country. “I think Toronto is potentially a turning point,” he said.

Arguments for and against lowering the voting age

Valere Gaspard is a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa whose research focuses on Canadian politics, including our history with the voting age.

He says the voting age in Canada hasn’t always been 18. It was 21 until 1970, when a large youth movement pushed to reduce it.

“Quite a large number of young people came together and pushed for this in a way that forced politicians to act to avoid the risk of destabilizing our democracy,” he said.

Today, he said, there are five main arguments in favor of lowering the voting age around the world:

16 and 17 year olds are as mature and capable as 18 year olds. — Several studies support this argument, according to Gaspard.
The circumstances are stable. — 16- and 17-year-olds are often still in school and living at home, and may actually be more inclined to vote than 18- to 20-year-olds who may have full-time jobs and other competing priorities.
Increase participation — Lowering the voting age allows more people to vote, which increases the overall vote count. Some argue that this strengthens our democracy.
Grants rights to citizens — This argument states that if a group of people asks for the right to vote, it is better to grant it if there is no strong evidence not to do so.
It’s your future — Decisions on issues such as climate change will affect the future of today’s young people, so the more young people who can have a say in that future, the better.

Gaspard said five common arguments against lowering the voting age are:

Young people from 16 to 17 years old are not mature enough — According to Gaspard, this opinion is based more on public opinion than on research.
Lower electoral participation — As noted above, lowering the voting age is likely to increase the number of voters overall, but this is different from voter turnout, which is the proportion of those who vote among all eligible voters. Because research shows that young people tend to vote less, lowering the voting age could decrease voter turnout. Some argue that lower voter turnout causes people to view election results as less legitimate.
Temporary deprivation of rights — If the voting age is lowered at the federal level, for example, but not at the provincial level, a 16-year-old could vote in one election and not another.
lack of will — Not all young people care about voting in elections, so it’s safer to leave things unchanged until enough of them can show they want to vote. Gaspard said the problem with this is that it is difficult to define “sufficient” support.
Young people can get involved in other ways — People under 18 can get involved in politics in other ways, such as volunteering for a political campaign, allowing them to discuss and debate issues before they have the right to vote.

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