Too young to vote? Challenging Canada’s Voting Age By Kylie de Chastelain
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any young Canadians eagerly anticipate the privileges that arrive with adulthood: independence, driver’s licenses, and paying jobs chief among them. But even as you might be able to drive a car, earn a wage and pay income tax by the time you turn fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen, in Canada, you will still be too young to vote. The Canada Elections Act, SC 2000, c 9, stipulates that only those older than 18 are eligible to vote in federal elections. This reality has become particularly relevant in an era of burgeoning environmental and social justice activism. For young people focused on long-term issues like climate change, voting age restrictions have come to be seen as antiquated and out of step with the demands of present-day life. Greta Thunberg and the youth behind the now-famous Fridays for Future climate strike initiative have expressed frustration that their abilities to effect political change are undercut by the fact that they are 4
too young to vote. Young people have voices and the desire to use them, as the upswing in climate demonstrations will attest. In this vein, restricting voting rights to those above the age of 18 is increasingly viewed as an arbitrary requirement in need of reconsideration. This is why the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights and Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY), in partnership with several child rights organizations, have initiated efforts to challenge and lower the voting age in Canada. The History of Voting Restrictions in Canada Voting restrictions have evolved substantially over the course of Canada’s history. At the time of Confederation, the federal vote was restricted to white men over the age of 21 who met property ownership requirements. Women, First Nations people, and those with disabilities were all denied the vote.
Asper Centre Outlook 2020
