kmandell
December 25th, 2004, 08:23 AM
Hey all:
Several Canadian members of parliament have proposed that the voting age be lowered to 16. Members from all four parties, Liberal Party Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering), New Democrat Party Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley), Conservative Party Belinda Stronach (Newmarket-Aurora), and the Bloc Quebec Party's Stéphane Bergeron (Verchères-Les Patriotes).
This bill will be voted on by the FULL PARLIAMENT (not just a committee) early next year. I'm not saying that it will pass, but it has a far better chance than in the U.S.A.
More information on whats going on can be found at
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=35982
So what can we do? Any Canadian members out there (I'm sure there must be a few) call or email or mail your MP and encourage them to support this. For those of you wanting to help out on the voting age talking points research (which I am working on), now is the time to help out. You know what we need to prove our point: stats, polls, surveys and anecdotal evidence. You know what we are trying to prove: (1) youth are fully qualified to vote (intelligence, interest in politics, working, paying taxes, etc); (2) youth deserve the right to vote (youth interests are being ignored from lack of say in education to lack of say in whats going on in US policy); (3) youth want the right to vote and will vote if given the chance; (4) youth voting would have a positive impact on our country (we need some results here---how has lowering the voting age helped countries, like Brazil, that have done it).
Of course, we should NOT have to "prove" these things. People should have the right to vote regardless of whether they are working, paying taxes or interested in polictics. But we need the STRONGEST argument possible to counteract the onslaught of attack that will surely come.
These talking, at least some of them, may help our neighbors to the north.
So, lets go at it!
Keith Mandell, Member NYRA BOD and Unofficial Chapter Coordinator
Several Canadian members of parliament have proposed that the voting age be lowered to 16. Members from all four parties, Liberal Party Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering), New Democrat Party Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley), Conservative Party Belinda Stronach (Newmarket-Aurora), and the Bloc Quebec Party's Stéphane Bergeron (Verchères-Les Patriotes).
This bill will be voted on by the FULL PARLIAMENT (not just a committee) early next year. I'm not saying that it will pass, but it has a far better chance than in the U.S.A.
More information on whats going on can be found at
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=35982
So what can we do? Any Canadian members out there (I'm sure there must be a few) call or email or mail your MP and encourage them to support this. For those of you wanting to help out on the voting age talking points research (which I am working on), now is the time to help out. You know what we need to prove our point: stats, polls, surveys and anecdotal evidence. You know what we are trying to prove: (1) youth are fully qualified to vote (intelligence, interest in politics, working, paying taxes, etc); (2) youth deserve the right to vote (youth interests are being ignored from lack of say in education to lack of say in whats going on in US policy); (3) youth want the right to vote and will vote if given the chance; (4) youth voting would have a positive impact on our country (we need some results here---how has lowering the voting age helped countries, like Brazil, that have done it).
Of course, we should NOT have to "prove" these things. People should have the right to vote regardless of whether they are working, paying taxes or interested in polictics. But we need the STRONGEST argument possible to counteract the onslaught of attack that will surely come.
These talking, at least some of them, may help our neighbors to the north.
So, lets go at it!
Keith Mandell, Member NYRA BOD and Unofficial Chapter Coordinator