Many not interested in political process

Many not interested in political process

Heath McCoy
Published by the Calgary Herald

Sunday, February 10, 2008

While Corey Renton (pictured), and Saron Teferi don't plan to vote in the March 3 provincial election, Joelle Maye will be doing her part, though she doesn't yet know which party she'll support. "I still have to look at all the other candidates," says Maye.

Corey Renton sheepishly admits it.

The 20-year-old sheet metal student at SAIT knows "it's a cop-out to say your (vote) doesn't matter" but in the March 3 provincial election, he won't be casting his X on any ballot.

In the past, he's voted for the Green party. Now, he feels there's little point.

"In the grand scheme of things, they never seem to get ahead anyway," Renton says.

Besides, he doesn't trust most politicians.

Saron Teferi, 21, a business administration student, won't be voting either because she's not up on any of the issues. "Maybe it will matter (to me) when I get older," she shrugs.

As for second-year legal assistant student Jenna Powell, 19, she doesn't know who's running in the provincial election and frankly doesn't care.

Actually, Powell didn't realize there was an election ahead. After revealing this, she hesitates, worried she'll come off as a "dumb-ass." But the truth is her statement reflects the way much of her generation seems to view politics.

According to a 2004 study conducted by Elections Canada, fewer than 40 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 cast a vote in that year's federal election. That is not expected to improve in this Alberta race. Voter turnout hit an all-time low in the last provincial election in 2004.

There's a huge untapped source of potential voters, with many politicians and pundits trying to figure out how to get young adults onside.

"Clearly, political parties are not meeting the needs of young people," says Chaldeans Mensah, chairman of political science at Edmonton's Grant MacEwan College. "There's a great deal of disengagement from the political process. . . . The system doesn't encourage participation and politicians aren't speaking to (young people's) needs. They're almost talking over their heads."

This trend is not something that Wildrose Alliance Leader Paul Hinman is going to lose sleep over. "If you go back 60, 100 years, it's always been the same dilemma," he says. "The youth have never been actively engaged."

Although, Hinman adds: "We actually have a good percentage of youths coming out and supporting us."

Mensah, however, flatly rejects the notion the majority of today's young people are apolitical.

"It's a myth that young people are not interested in politics," he says. "What is happening is that they are channelling their political interests into non-partisan ways. Some of them are involved in social movements or pressure groups."

They're also highly likely to sign petitions, boycott products and march in protests, according to a Statistics Canada report. They also passionately get behind their favourite politically inspired rock and pop acts, from Rage Against the Machine, Ben Harper and Green Day to k-os and Raine Maida.

Meanwhile, Alberta's politicians don't seem to appeal to the under-30 generation.

"The sort of leadership that speaks to people and motivates them to action . . . it's solely lacking in the Canadian political system," says Mensah. "None of the leaders generate any kind of enthusiasm, the way, say, Barack Obama has done in the United States."

The University of Calgary's student union recognizes the problem. In the last week of February, just before the election, it will roll out an initiative called Election Awareness Days. It will include a Campus Big Brother, wherein three yet-to-be-chosen youngsters will take up residence in a small room in the MacEwan Student Centre, dubbed the fishbowl.

They can escape to attend classes and visit the washroom, but other than that, they'll live in each other's faces -- no doubt feeling increasingly claustrophobic as fellow students scrutinize their every move.

Like the popular TV reality series Big Brother, "they'll compete to see who lasts the longest," says Julie Bogle, 22, president of the U of C's student union. "People will be able to vote them out . . . (and the winner) will get money towards their rent that month."

The event is designed to raise awareness about the need for affordable housing, an issue affecting many students.

Meanwhile, the student union will be distributing handouts and an election insert is planned for the student paper, The Gauntlet, telling students "how to vote, where to vote and why it's important to vote," Bogle says.

Provincial parties are making an effort to reach out to young voters, tapping into humour, music and technology.

Kyle Fawcett, 28, who's running for the Alberta Tories in the Calgary-North Hill riding, says he was recruited specifically because the PC party is seeking young candidates.

"I have the fresh perspective this party is looking to exhibit," Fawcett says. "We're trying to have events that are fun for the youth. . . . It started before the election. I was down at an event hosted by the Progressive Conservative Youth Association at a pub downtown. They had a comedian come down and a bunch of candidates."

George Read, head of the Alberta Greens, says his party draws heavily from the young crowd and he's tried to hold events that will engage them, like the Greens' campaign launch held Friday at Calgary's hip HiFi Club.

Read, who hopes to field candidates in more than 56 of the 83 ridings, is recruiting new party members on Facebook, the social networking website.

Julie Hrdlicka, 35, the NDP candidate in Calgary-Fort, also considers Facebook an important place to gather support.

The Alberta Liberal party has taken the connection with youth and technology to the next level with a strategy called VENT, the Viral Electronic Network Team.

"(Young people) have such big electronic networks," says Justin Archer, 27, who's part of the VENT team. "They often have blogs. They're almost always on Facebook and they're on MySpace. They sort of live online. . . . We feel a great way of bringing them on board is to bring what we're doing onto that playing field."

But are such elaborate pushes reaching young voters?

Some.

Joelle Maye, 26, who does publicity for local rock acts, is plugged in politically. She's always voted for either the Green party or the Tories and, once again, is trying to decide between them.

"It would be nice not to pay health-care premiums . . . but I don't know if (Stelmach is) going to keep that promise. I still have to look at all the other candidates."

Jeremy Villaroman, 25, has voted once since he was 18 and admits to being "pretty apathetic." This year, he has vowed he will make it to the polls.

"I'm trying to do more reading of the parents and understanding the issues," he says. "I want to know what each party stands for."