.section.impact­home { background: #660022; } The youth vote doesn't belong to Trudeau — or anyone else These votes will go to the leader who listens to whatSUBSC youngRIBE (/SU BpeopleSCRIBE) LOGIN (/LOGIN) have to say Politics Policy Opinions IPolitics Briefs Ilona Dougherty Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016 (http://ipolitics.ca/author/ilona­ dougherty/) Youth and students from across Canada try to cross a barricade during a protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, to call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reject the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood iPolitics (http://ipolitics.ca/category/opinions/columns/) Students from across Canada try to cross a barricade during a protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. Protesters were calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to kill the Kinder Morgan pipeline project. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood No matter what they do, millennials just can’t seem to get political engagement right. When they don’t vote, they’re ignored by politicians. When they do show up and passionately express their views, they’re When they do show up and passionately express their views, they’re encouraged to sit down and be more respectful. Recently, 99 millennial activists got arrested on Parliament Hill (http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2016/10/24/99­arrested­during­ kinder­morgan­pipeline­protest.html) and others symbolically turned their backs on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at an young workers event. (http://ipolitics.ca/ipoliticslive/) Rather than condemn them, perhaps it’s time we started viewing young people as the influential voting block they might have been in 2015 — and could be again in 2019. LIVE WIRE A year ago, young people were momentarily celebrated for finally showing up to the polls, reversing a 20­year downward trend in youth voter turnout. Only the news you need, from Fifty­seven per cent of 18 to 29 year olds voted in 2015, up from 42 per all the sources you know. cent in 2011. (http://www.samaracanada.com/research/active­ citizenship/can­you­hear­me­now) Rick Santorum jeers PM Although the Liberals were quick to claim victory over this significant Trudeau's NAFTA move increase in youth voter turnout, a recent report from Samara Canada (http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/rick­ suggests that it wasn’t an increased focus on young voters by the Liberals santorum­jeers­pm­ — or by any political party — that led young people to the polls. trudeau­s­nafta­move­ 1.3165964) In fact, in 2015 political parties did what they’ve always done. They From www.ctvnews.ca (http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/rick­ focused on mobilizing older voters who are more consistent in their voting santorum­jeers­pm­trudeau­s­nafta­ move­1.3165964) ­ November 21, 3:52 patterns, and ignored young voters: “Only 52 per cent of young Canadians AM reported contact from parties, compared with 82 per cent of the oldest (http://www.scoop.it/t/livewire/p/4071879058/2016/11/21/rick­ santorum­jeers­pm­trudeau­s­nafta­ cohort,” says the Samara report. In fact, more young people came out to move) vote (57 per cent) than were contacted by political parties (52 per cent) during the campaign. SUBSCRIBE (/SUBSCRIBE) LOGIN (/LOGIN) It’s likely that a desire for change, hype about Trudeau and the groundwork laid by non­partisan, get­out­the­youth­vote initiatives actuallyPolitics Policy Opinions IPolitics Briefs made the difference in youth voter turnout in 2015 — not a change in tactics by political parties. Will young people make voting a habit and, if (http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/rick­ they do, who they will choose to vote for in 2019? It’s anyone’s guess. santorum­jeers­pm­trudeau­ s­nafta­move­1.3165964) If political parties make a conscious choice in 2019 to view millennials as a voting block and reach out to a lot more of them during the campaign then Justin Trudeau: Canada they did in 2015, it certainly could establish long­term voting habits and will only respond to partisan preferences among young voters. But that strategy won’t be concrete proposals from effective if young people aren’t valued as a voting block long before Donald Trump campaign time. (http://globalnews.ca/news/3072173/justin­ How will we be able to tell trudeau­canada­will­only­ that young people are being Protesters getting detained on respond­to­concrete­ seen as a valuable voting proposals­from­donald­ the Hill, a few young people turning block by parties over the next trump/) From globalnews.ca three years? You might see their backs on the PM — these (http://globalnews.ca/news/3072173/justin­ smart politicians starting to trudeau­canada­will­only­respond­to­ concrete­proposals­from­donald­ show up where young people things don’t necessarily signal a trump/) ­ November 17, 4:22 AM (http://www.scoop.it/t/livewire/p/4071741961/2016/11/17/justin­ are. They might actually start trudeau­canada­will­only­respond­to­ listening to them. They might full­on revolt by millennials against concrete­proposals­from­donald­trump) use what they hear to shift their policy priorities. And you the current government. But it might see the Liberal government start to spend could be a sign of things to come. more money on issues that more money on issues that determine how young people vote. (http://globalnews.ca/news/3072173/justin­ On the first point we aren’t doing too badly. The Liberals, the Greens and trudeau­canada­will­only­ the NDP are all actively showing up and listening to young people. The respond­to­concrete­ Conservatives — perhaps distracted by their leadership race and by a proposals­from­donald­ long­held belief that young people won’t vote for them anyway — aren’t. trump/) (Conservatives could attract young voters if they put the work in, but that’s a topic for another column.) Donald Trump meeting with Shinzo Abe an When Prime Minister Trudeau watched a group of young people turn their attempt to settle Asian backs on him at a recent Q&A session, his most telling comment was the allies one he made as he left the stage: “I will see you next year.” Despite a (http://globalnews.ca/news/3069687/donald­ tense exchange, his commitment to youth engagement remains clear — trump­meeting­with­ even when it isn’t easy. shinzo­abe­an­attempt­ to­settle­asian­allies/) The question remains, though, whether these kinds of interactions with From globalnews.ca young people — and actions by young activists like that climate change (http://globalnews.ca/news/3069687/donald­ trump­meeting­with­shinzo­abe­an­ protest on Parliament Hill (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pipeline­protest­ attempt­to­settle­asian­allies/) ­ November 16, 4:29 AM parliament­hill­1.3819785) — will have any impact on government policy. (http://www.scoop.it/t/livewire/p/4071698366/2016/11/16/donald­ trump­meeting­with­shinzo­abe­an­ There are some policy issues where young Canadians and older attempt­to­settle­asian­allies) Canadians share similar views. There are others — like the environment — where we see a stark division between generations. A poll earlier this year by EKOS (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ekos­poll­ environment­youth­economy­oil­gas­1.3498263) said that young Canadians worry more about the environment than the economy. A government’s degree of engagement with the priorities of young voters SUBSCRIBE (/SUBSCRIBE) LOGIN (/LOGIN) can be determined by how it addresses these policy issues where public (http://globalnews.ca/news/3069687/donald­ opinion is divided by age. trump­meeting­with­shinzo­ Politics Policy Opinions abe­an­attempt­to­settle­IPolitics Briefs More telling still is how the government spends. The national organization asian­allies/) Generation Squeeze put it bluntly in their communications on the 2016 budget: ‘More Hope for Older Middle Class than Younger Middle Class’. According to their calculations, “the Liberal government will spend over Environment minister $21,000 per person age 65+; over $7,300 per person age 45 to 64; and says global movement to around $4,550 per person under age 45.” Governments set priorities with fight climate change money: The more public money flows to the priorities of young people, the 'irresistible' more the government wants to keep its share of the youth vote. (http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/environment­ minister­says­global­ Protesters getting detained on the Hill, a few young people turning their movement­to­fight­ backs on the PM — these things don’t necessarily signal a full­on revolt by climate­change­ millennials against the current government. But it could be a sign of things irresistible­1.3162158) to come. From www.ctvnews.ca (http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/environment­ minister­says­global­movement­to­fight­ Having grown up in an era of slick marketing campaigns, millennials have climate­change­irresistible­1.3162158) ­ November 16, 4:29 AM a highly accurate ‘bullshit detector’. Rehearsed talking points and empty (http://www.scoop.it/t/livewire/p/4071699029/2016/11/16/environment­ minister­says­global­movement­to­fight­ promises don’t move them. Neither does being told not to call out climate­change­irresistible) contradictions when they see them. As one young person who attended the event with Trudeau put it (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau­ protesters­young­workers­event­1.3820153), “We are told to speak truth to power, then they put power in front of us and they expect us to sit quietly.” The Liberals would be wise to think about how much young voters matter to their re­election strategy in 2019. If they do matter, they should stop (http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/environment­ asking young people to be polite.