Moved second reading of Bill S-219, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Regulation Adapting the Canada Elections Act for the Purposes of a Referendum (voting age).

She said: Honourable senators, I rise this evening at second reading of Bill S-219, which seeks to lower the voting age in federal elections from 18 to 16.

This evening is a “herstoric” moment for me because this is the first bill that I have introduced in the Senate. I could not introduce a better bill than this one, which seeks to include young Canadians in our democracy and is the product of several months of cooperation between my team and youth advisors, the Canadian Council of Young Feminists and many other youth organizations across the country. Many thanks to all of them.

It has now been 50 years since the voting age was lowered from the age of 21 to 18. Today, I am excited to begin second reading of Bill S-219, which would amend the Canada Elections Act to lower the voting age in federal elections from 18 to 16. This bill will also make several minor amendments to the same act to harmonize the logistics of voting to reflect the age of 16.

Honourable colleagues, this is not a complicated bill, but please join me in considering its potential for the revitalization of our democracy. We should lower the voting age to 16 because our young people are mature, informed and engaged enough to vote. Lowering the voting age will increase voter turnout by providing young people the opportunity to vote for the first time in an environment that is supported by their schools, their families and their communities.

Indeed, polling stations are often located in high schools, but most students must watch from afar as others exercise their right to vote. We know that those who vote at an earlier age for the first time are more likely to vote again and again in the future.

Further, young people are so often told they are the leaders of tomorrow, but the truth is that now, today, they are already leaders, genuine stakeholders in the institutions that govern our country, and this is a substantive opportunity for us to show them that we recognize their rights and we take them seriously.

When Canada became a Confederation, the voting age was 21. At that time, only white men who owned property could vote. Women, Indigenous peoples, black and other people of colour, as well as members of certain religions, were prevented from participating in the democratic process.

In 1917, with the First World War raging, the right to vote was extended to all members of the Canadian military, including women, and Indigenous peoples recognized as Indians under the Indian Act.

After certain women in Manitoba were the first in Canada to gain the right to vote, the right was extended to many more women over the age of 21 in 1918, but still not to Indigenous women.

By 1960, the Canada Elections Act extended the vote in federal elections to people recognized as Indians under the Indian Act. Amidst great national debate about how people so young could not possibly exercise such a responsibility, the Canada Elections Act was amended to lower the age of voting from 21 to 18 in 1970. That was 50 years ago.

The arguments today for lowering the legal voting age to 16 echo the debates on lowering the voting age to 18 that occurred in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Today’s common criticisms of youth echo those historic debates.

Young people are collectively charged with being uninformed, unengaged and immature. There is ample evidence to counter all of these claims. Indeed, dear colleagues, the evidence tilts to verify that 16 and 17-year-old Canadians are sufficiently mature, informed and ready to participate to exercise their right to vote in federal elections.

I hope my honourable colleagues will support this bill by engaging our youth in the democratic process for a more effective representation of our society and for the long-term economic and social viability of our country.

Critics argue that 16-year-olds are not mature enough to vote. Let us look more closely at this concept of maturity, which is often equated to age.

In a research paper I received from Manitoba students Sarah Rohleder and Meaghan Rohleder, aged 15 and 16, they made the succinct observation that “Age doesn’t make everyone wiser.”

When we look outside the voting context, Canadian lawmakers have already decided that 16 and 17-year-olds are mature enough to engage in many actions that require maturity and are considered to be well within the realm of responsible decision making.

Canadian society sees 16-year-olds as mature enough to enroll in the Armed Forces under the reserves. We give them the opportunity to shoulder one of the greatest responsibilities one can have — serving your country and accepting unlimited liability imbued with the ultimate sacrifice for one’s country, the principle that you must follow lawful orders even when it may cost you your life.

We believe 16-year-olds are mature enough to drive a car, which is fundamentally a killing machine, on the same roads as everyone else. We trust them to get behind the wheel with judgment and skill in a responsible act that is statistically one of the most dangerous of all our lives. We believe that 16-year-olds are mature enough to provide informed consent to having sex. We believe 16-year-olds are mature enough to enter into a contract of marriage with the consent of their parents. We defer to the maturity of young people to know their bodies and to have the capacity to speak autonomously for what they do and do not want in pursuit of their health. We believe that at age 16 you are old enough to earn an income and be taxed on that income. Governments take money from employed 16-year-old Canadians, and governments create policy and legislation that affects them without them.

In summary, 16- and 17-year-olds are already seen as mature enough to navigate the responsibilities of joining the military, having sex, driving a car, being taxed, being married and being parents. Preventing them from voting on the grounds that they lack maturity contradicts the current responsibilities that our society has placed on their shoulders. Despite being taxed and being affected by government policy decisions, 16- and 17-year-olds do not have access to the most fundamental and democratic way an individual can engage with issues that matter to them: the ability to vote.

We should not keep young people away from the heart of our democracy, within which the right to vote resides. Instead, we need to invite them in as partners in the revitalization of our democracy. This is an essential opportunity to demonstrate to young Canadians the respect they deserve because they have earned it. They are our partners in the stewardship of our country and the institutions that govern us. Look around you. Although 30 years of age is the threshold to be considered for appointment to the Senate, no one within a decade of that age is a senator.

Now think about the fact that the federal deficit surpassed $1 trillion last week. It is not our generation that is going to bear the long-term brunt of the long recovery ahead.

Some critics argue that a 16-year-old is not informed enough to cast a ballot. The 16- and 17-year-olds that I know, the 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds who have sent to me research papers arguing in favour of my bill, delivered papers to which I would have happily given a high grade by my standards as a university professor. Based on the evidence, it has been demonstrated that 16- and 17‑year-olds are able to make an informed decision based on the values they hold and their vision of the inclusive democracy we all believe in.

Colleagues, my dad first ran as a Conservative at the invitation of the late Senator Duff Roblin, who was then the Premier of Manitoba. I knocked on dozens of doors, beginning at the age of 12, in the first of many election campaigns in which I canvassed for a number of candidates running for a number of different political parties over those years. For those among us who have this experience, we know that there are many voters much older than 16 who are neither mature nor well informed, but we would fight for their right to vote.

A voter does not need to know their position on each issue to be informed and to effectively cast their ballot. An informed voter is one who understands their values and can translate them into their vision of what Canada, as an inclusive democracy, needs to be by casting their vote. An informed voter can be one who feels passionately about a single issue, a cluster of issues or is otherwise able to translate their values into an elective decision on which person they want to represent them at home, in Ottawa and internationally.

I stand here today with this bill to argue that 16- and 17-year-olds are ready to vote. You don’t need to take my word for it. Take the evidence of the past decade from researchers who have established that 16- and 17-year-olds are equal or superior to 18‑year-olds in ability to vote responsibly, both in terms of the capacity for critical thinking and overall political knowledge.

I’m going to quote from a paper authored by Sarah and Meaghan Rohleder, both too young to vote, where they say that, in fact, in Austria, Malta and Guernsey — all countries that have already lowered the voting age to 16 — their federal elections have seen high participation, at about 70%. Austria even tops the Eurobarometer for voter turnout for 15- to 30-year-olds with 79%, while the average voter turnout in Europe is 64%.

A Danish study found that 18-year-olds are more likely to take their first vote than 19-year-olds. The more that months go by in those years saw a decline in first voter turnout. Lowering the voting age will allow people to vote before they leave high school and their homes and establish lifelong voting habits. Evidence from Austria confirms that there is a higher first-time voter turnout that also continues over time. It shows that they are ready to contribute sound decision making and quality participation in democracy. In the words of Sarah and Meaghan the feeling of voting, of stating your opinion, is a strong one. It is a simple act, but one that matters immensely.

In another research paper sent to me by three other high school students, all under the age of 18, several studies were cited, including a study published by the London School of Economics last year that found a voter’s first two election cycles are key in determining future voting habits. It increases twofold for every election in which they vote.

In the words of high school students Avinash, Rooj and Shiven, “That is the recipe for a lifelong voter.”

These student authors also noted that one kind of cognition is called cold cognition, and that is usually what we think about: attention, memory and everyday types of things. It’s really non‑emotional cognition. Then there is hot cognition, which is emotional and social cognition. For decisions such as voting, our brains use cold cognition. While hot cognition continues developing until the mid-20s, cold cognition is fully mature and developed by the age of 16.

At 16, they are completely scientifically and intellectually capable of making political decisions — a point also made by the student authors Sarah and Meaghan.

Colleagues, these are rational arguments and evidence that surpass the anecdotal dismissals of young voters I have been hearing from some talk show hosts and other opponents. A study from the American Academy of Political and Social Science verified the adequate level of political knowledge held by teenagers. They found:

On measures of civic knowledge, political skills, political efficacy, and tolerance, 16-year-olds, on average, are obtaining scores similar to those of adults.

Most young people are in high school at the age of 16, which provides a supportive framework to absorb the knowledge necessary to make an informed vote.

At 16 and 17 years of age, Canadians are in a uniquely advantageous position to learn about the political process, the history of our democracy and the importance of voting. They are voters who would be in an environment where they get to spend time exploring the complicated issues that face us today.

In the classroom, young people have a structured opportunity to discuss the different federal and provincial parties, as well as their positions concerning environmental, economic and societal issues of national and global importance. Elections would provide students an opportunity to practise forming and acting on their own opinions, and the school setting provides them the informational resources to make an informed decision when beginning to vote.

Honourable senators, voting is a simple but powerful act. It is an act that recognizes the credibility of the person’s voice in making a decision about their community and their nation. It allows citizens to participate in the decision-making process and hold accountable those in power.

Our youth are the citizens who will bear the longest burden of the decisions that are being made by us, by governments, now. Giving young people a mechanism to contribute their views would improve our political representation as the decisions of world leaders of today affect most heavily the world young people will live in tomorrow.

Young people are not only affected by government policy on education and climate change. When a young person looks to moving out of their home, they are impacted by housing policy. When a young person is deciding how to commute, they are affected by transit and infrastructure planning. When a young person is concerned about how they are going to take care of their elders, they are affected by seniors’ policies. When young people are looking to enter into the workforce, they are impacted by tax and economic policies. When young people need to buy groceries for themselves or their family, food prices affect them. When looking for medical attention, young people are affected by the funding levels of our health care systems. Many more young people wish to pursue post-secondary education than those who can; they are affected by education funding.

Young people face important serious issues that intersect with the role of government. As of 2018, people under the age of 18 are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as seniors. Historically, youth unemployment has been higher than that of the general population. However, because of COVID-19, the economic disruption is hitting hard on young people. In May, the Canadian unemployment rate rose to 13.7% but youth unemployment ballooned to 29.4%.

With the rising impact and costs associated with climate change, young people are going to pay the most for our inaction on transitioning to a low-carbon economy and the development of infrastructure resilience. The consequences of government action affect a group of people who are mature enough to form an informed opinion but are prevented from being able to exercise democratic rights.

Honourable senators, this bill aims to resolve this democratic slight and improve the representation of Canadian society at the voting booth by bringing in more people who should be able to voice their opinions on how their government is impacting their lives.

Lowering the voting age to 16 will strengthen our democracy by increasing the number of people who will create the habit of voting. Studies have shown that voters who vote in their first election are more likely to continue voting in their lifetime.

Failure to engage youth in the democratic process can have negative consequences on the long-term health of our democracy. Voter turnout in federal elections has not once been over 70% within the past 70 years.

When looking at the demographic breakdown of voter turnout, it is easy to cast a disappointing eye to the 18- to 24-year-olds who are often the least likely to vote. According to Elections Canada, Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 have shown the least amount of interest in voting with the 2019 turnout only being 57.1%.

The responsibility for engaging young people is shared. There is a degree of responsibility for youth to get involved. Speaking from experience, young people are ready and willing to engage in meaningful conversations about serious issues, and they are ready to take action.

However, there is a reciprocal responsibility on us as a society to create opportunities for young people to participate in the democratic system and develop interest in their community.

Studies of the impact of lowering the voter age to 16 have found that it positively impacted voter turnout, not only within younger demographics, but also had a positive impact on the likelihood to vote of the adults surrounding them. A University of Copenhagen study found that one of the most important relationships that predicted the probability of a first-time voter was the influence of parents and peers. The study empirically contradicted the assumption that younger people vote less frequently, finding that young people who still live at home with one or both parents who voted were more likely to cast a ballot in that election than an 18-year-old who had moved out.

The study also showed that as young people moved out of home for work or higher education, the influence of their peers became equal to or greater than that of their parents. They became less likely to vote than if they were living at home.

In sum, while youth are living at home with support of parents, they are far more likely to vote compared to 18-year-olds who have often moved away from home and are influenced more by their peers than their family.

Another study found that a benefit of parenting a newly enfranchised voter is the parent is more likely to vote in the same election, further increasing turnout. Importantly, they found that the older you become before you cast your first ballot decreases the likelihood you will vote for the first time.

In a study of Austrian elections, voter turnout among 16- and 17-year-olds was almost 10% greater than those aged 18 to 20. The takeaway is clear: Lowering the voting age will allow young Canadians to engage with the democratic process earlier and increase voter turnout in the long term.

Lowering the voting age has been successful in increasing voter turn out in Austria and Scotland, just to mention two countries.

In 2007, Austria lowered the voting age to 16. Researchers found that there was a first-time voting boost in the 16- and 17‑year-olds that was greater than those between the ages of 18 and 20. They also found that the turnout in the 16- and 17-year-olds was not substantially lower than the average turnout rate of the entire voting population.

It was also found in Austria that those under 18 were able and willing to participate in politics and that their values were able to be effectively translated into political decisions — as effectively as people between the ages of 18 and 21. That study also found that there was no evidence that a lack of turnout was driven by a lack of interest or ability to participate.

Young people are interested. Young people are willing to participate. Let us take a step to strengthen our democracy by increasing participation in our electoral process. Let’s bring more people to the table who should help decide important issues on policy and spending that affect them. Let’s trust young people and help them develop into the leaders who will soon be at the forefront of the dynamic range of issues facing our society.

Young people are ready and able to vote at 16. Evidence from countries that have lowered the voting age shows that lowering the voting age to 16 has positive effects. We have a block of engaged, interested and mature people who are wanting and should be heard on important issues that face them and their communities.

While there have been previous private members’ bills to lower the voting age to 16, they have all originated in the other place. Bill S-219 gives us as senators a leadership opportunity to modernize and revitalize our democracy.

And to those who are concerned that young people’s voting will disrupt the current political landscape, let’s run the numbers. Lowering the voting age would be giving around 800,000 people the ability to vote. Canada’s total eligible electorate was just over 27 million people in 2019. Adding the 800,000 16- and-17-year-olds to the electorate would represent a 2.9% increase to the total number of eligibility voters. This is a fraction of electors to the total amount and will not upset the political competition in Canada.

If critics argue that all the youth are going to vote for one type of party, let us push back against the idea of preventing an otherwise capable person from exercising their political preference. The deciding factor on whether or not to allow someone to vote is whether they have the maturity and social responsibility that earns them the right to vote. We should not extend the right to vote to a group of people because of their political beliefs. Such a notion is antithetical to the understanding of democracy itself, where the voices of the people are the source of legitimate power.

People often say youth are disengaged. That’s not what I see. That’s not what I hear. Young people are already engaged in their communities. They get involved in their high schools through clubs and student councils. They are involved in sports teams and drama theatres. They put on fundraisers for community initiatives.

Voter turnout numbers do not immediately prove the idea that youth are politically disengaged. All we know for certain from lower voter turnout is that once you’re 18 you are less politically engaged in voting for a period of your life. This does not mean young people are not engaged in political or social causes that echo the democratic sentiment of the power of everyday people using and exercising their opinions, time and effort to shape the society they wish to see.

For the young people who have not yet found a channel to contribute to their civic interest, we need to provide them with opportunities to get involved in order to strengthen communities across Canada. Lowering the voting age helps get young people involved by introducing them to the issues in their community, how government interacts with their community and what organizations work to better their community.

Lowering the voting age can expose interested young people to organizations or activities that can produce habits of good civic engagement. Creating more opportunities for young people to be exposed to how they can contribute their time and effort to develop their communities is something worth doing.

When I began working with my youth advisors on the idea of lowering the federal voting age, they made it clear to me that a national campaign galvanized by youth leaders needed to be created. My youth advisors from across Canada have been diligently researching, consulting and proposing outreach strategies to ensure Canadian youth are involved at all stages of the process of this bill. The Vote16 Youth Steering Committee, composed of my youth advisors, has been invaluable to me in providing thorough feedback and youth perspectives through every stage of developing this bill to this point. This has been a long time coming. From my first year as a senator with numerous youth circles across Manitoba and some other parts of the country, I am committed to continuing to consult young leaders as this bill makes its way through Parliament and invite youth, youth-led movements and youth-focused organizations to reach out. They can become a Vote16 Mobilizer and stay engaged in this process.

In closing, I’d like to quote the president of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française, an organization representing French-Canadian young women that played a vital role in developing the campaign to lower the voting age to 16. Sue Duguay said, and I quote:

The [proposed] bill puts an issue of utmost importance back on the table. I am pleased that lowering the voting age to 16 is still being considered. French-speaking youth are engaged in their communities, and that means in politics as well, often more than most people. As individuals eager to take a critical look at the Canadian political system, their voices deserve to be heard and considered.

Voting at 16 is a much broader issue than simply exercising one’s right to vote. We need to work together, with the provinces and territories, to enhance civic education amongst all young Canadians. We strongly urge the federal government to consider this bill carefully, since it responds positively to an issue that has been a top priority for young people for quite some time.

Once again, it is an honour for me to carry the torch towards a fair and inclusive democracy.

Our young leaders are mature, engaged and informed members of our society whom we should bring to the decision making table. They are our partners and crucial actors in the long-term governance of our institutions and the revitalization of our democracy, and they deserve the right to vote.

Thank you, meegwetch.