Mr. Speaker, there has been a decline in participation in elections in Canada and in all developed nations. Almost all of that decline can be explained by a very low turnout of under 30-year-old voters.
The book, Anatomy of a liberal victory by André Blais, which is listed in the reference list that we have just tabled and which was published by Broadview Press in Peterborough in 2002, analyses this decline in participation for Canada.
Young people are not avoiding the polls because they are more cynical about politics. In fact, they are less cynical than other age groups, so we would expect this, given the optimism of youth. They are not shunning the political party system. In fact, they appear to be no more dissatisfied with the party system than their elders. They are not shunning the party system in favour of extra parliamentary political activism, such as anti-globalization or environmental group activism. Most of them are simply not engaged at all.
The author of this book points out that the two most important factors influencing young voter turnout are level of political knowledge and level of political interest. In both cases the level is very low among young Canadians. To persuade more of them to go out to the polls at election time, we must find ways to engage them in the political process. Lack of knowledge leads to lack of interest, which leads to disengagement. Conversely, increased knowledge should increase interest and in turn lead to increased participation.
Political knowledge includes knowledge of the civics process and structure, and an understanding of how that process affects issues of concern to the young voters. We need to demonstrate the mechanics and relevance of government. Young voters need to know how government affects their lives.
The bedrock of democracy is the educational level of its citizens, including in this case the educational level with respect to the democratic process itself. Many schools work hard at this and I urge all provincial and territorial ministries of education to strengthen and make mandatory civics education at both the elementary and secondary levels. Ideally, the secondary components would be for 16 to 18 year olds in the pre-voting years.
I urge the federal government to support these efforts in every appropriate way. It could work through the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada to do this, but there are other avenues which would be equally effective. There are already federal materials available to assist in the process. Heritage Canada, Elections Canada and the Library of Parliament all do good work in this area. I urge the federal government to produce and circulate more electoral educational materials. I urge my fellow MPs to visit schools and youth groups to discuss their work and our fine system of government.
My motion suggests more immediate practical action which is within the federal jurisdiction. Under the Canada Elections Act the Chief Electoral Officer and Elections Canada are mandated to develop and circulate educational materials on our electoral system and to actively promote our democracy in various ways. They are already doing some of these things, as a visit to the Elections Canada website will show. The website is listed on the list of references we just tabled.
I urge Canadians to contact Elections Canada for information on such things as the symposium on electoral participation in Canada, which was held at Carleton University last March or the National Forum on Youth Voting, which was held in Calgary last October. Again, these are referenced in the list. Reports from these events and other activities are available on the Elections Canada website.
These meetings brought together young people and representatives of business and non-governmental agencies, aboriginal groups, labour organizations as well as academics, researchers and the media. This is fine work, but it needs to be promoted and expanded. While civics education in all its forms is a very valuable and stimulating interest in the political process, I believe that well organized formal simulations of voting for young people below voting age with published results would greatly heighten awareness and interest in participation in elections.
The idea is that around election time, and this could apply to municipal, provincial and first nations as well as federal elections, voting could be conducted in schools and other locations using formal Elections Canada procedures and materials, for example, official looking ballots and ballot boxes.
At the end of election day, ballots from such simulations would be counted using official procedures. The results would be published by Elections Canada so that the young pre-voters' choices would be widely known.
There are already organizations and individuals in Canada doing this sort of thing. For example, I commend Joel Parkes and teachers in Peterborough, notably Gary Fenn, guide and scout leaders in Peterborough and others in my riding for their work on these matters.
I also commend Taylor Gunn, the chief electoral officer of Kids Voting Canada for the great success of Student Vote 2003 during last year's Ontario election. In that simulation for the Ontario provincial election, 335,000 students took part and voted. I would point out that the number of students who voted was more than the total populations of the territories and our smaller provinces combined.
I commend the scout and guide leaders in my riding and across Canada for their fine work in connection with the civics badge, and elementary and high school teachers for their fine work.
I commend the 20,000 Project which is particularly geared to encourage young women to vote.
I commend Rush the Vote, a Canadian expression of Rock the Vote in the United States.
I commend the Kawartha Rotary Club and the Peterborough Rotary Club for their work on citizenship.
These are only examples of work that is already underway to improve the participation of young people in public life, especially in the electoral process.
My motion suggests, in fact it directs, that Elections Canada work actively and creatively with such groups and people. Elections Canada should provide federal polling instructions for mock elections and federal polling station materials to give a sense of authenticity to the efforts of these people. It should also provide instructions and examples for teachers, scout leaders, service club leaders and others who might become involved in this important work.
Above all, Elections Canada should publish the results of such mock elections so that the voices of pre-voters will be clearly heard.
I see this as a motion that will engage the House of Commons and all political parties here in addressing the problem of low voter turnout. I do not see this as a partisan matter, but something that all MPs are concerned about. That is why in my motion Elections Canada is directed to report regularly on these matters to Parliament through the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on which senior party officials represent all parties here.
I urge all members to support this motion so that Elections Canada will be encouraged to be even more responsive in these matters as the next federal election draws near.