The younger population has started to make a bigger impact in the world and, as time goes on, they have become more involved with the process of improving their country. As of now, the voting age is 18 and this is the point where teens are considered to be ready for responsibilities but there is a growing demand for change. Today's youth younger than 18 wants to get involved in the political process, however, many people are unsupportive of this. Many MPPs, mayors, and others are trying to change these unjust opinions by supporting 16 years and have tried issuing bills that might help the situation. The voting age should be lowered to 16 as it will make our country more democratic, increase voter turnout, and give 16-year-olds the liberty to make a bigger difference.
The voting age should be lowered to 16 as it would cause our country to become more democratic. The power of voting will be accessible to thousands of more people since the younger generation is more diverse in their thoughts, they believe it will cause politicians to focus on issues such as wage gap, global warming, education and health care. Not letting people that are paying taxes have a say as to where there money is being used is a violation of the charter of right. The charter of rights states “No taxation without representation”,the 16 year olds that pay taxes are being wronged. We pride ourselves in being a democratic country, so we should let the younger population participate in our political process like many other countries have, to improve their voter turnout and make them more democratic.
Lowering the voting age will increase youth participation in politics and increase the voter turnout. “At the same time, I spent time with high school students, and I was very impressed with these people’s interests and ideas. So, why are we preventing young Canadians from having their say on the government they want?” says NDP MP Don Davies of Vancouver Kingsway. Brazil, Austria and many other countries worldwide believe that teens are not only mature and responsible but also deserve the right to vote. Scotland is an example of how youth participation is an important factor, since the voter turnout amongst the youth was 75%. B.C. Premier John Horgan seems to support this as well saying “I believe that if we can get more people involved in politics, that’s a good thing, I believe that young people are very much focused on learning and understanding our political process. We want to see participation levels go up. If you start voting as soon as you can, you will probably vote for life.” Increase in youth participation would be helpful to the country the new-generation is more open-minded and diverse.
