POV: Kids of 16 and 17 should be allowed to vote

POV is a weekly column from our Local writers offering our thoughts and opinions. We hope it gives you something to think about, and we'd love to hear your feedback. 

The kids are alright  is a refrain (and title of a great song by The Who) that has gone through my mind a million times during my 32 years in education and 22 years of being a parent.

The kids, teenagers especially, consistently surprise and challenge me with their creativity, curiosity and intellect. At 16, they are given many rights: the right to drive, to consent to sex, to enrol in the armed forces, and to legally withdraw from parental control.They can even be tried as an adult in court. But strangely, they do not have the right to vote.

Young people are smart and they are inquisitive. In grade 10, as part of their graduation requirement, high school students take a Civics and Citizenship course where not only are they taught about Canadian and Indigenous governance systems, they are also taught to apply critical thinking skills to civic issues and democratic values. 

But then they aren’t allowed to vote for two more years.

However, a group is aiming to change this. 

#Vote16 is a national network of groups who believe in extending voting rights to 16- and 17-year old citizens. Unicef Canada, Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, and Operation Black Vote Canada are just a few of the organizations that support this idea. 

Manitoba’s Senator Marilou McPhedran introduced Bill S-201, an act to lower the legal voting age in federal elections from 18 to 16. It passed its first reading in November 2021 and has been debated eight times in senate, as recently as June 2024.

The bill passed first reading in the House of Commons in December 2021 and was voted on in 2022, ending with a negative vote 246-77. The bill remains adjourned but, according to the #vote16 website, it was expected to reach a second reading in a few weeks, however, parliament is prorogued until late March.

I agree with those organizations, and the Manitoba senator — 16- and 17-year-olds should have the right to vote in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

When my three daughters were taking civics, they each came home and proudly showed me where they believed they sat on the political spectrum. They then asked all the adults around them questions about our political beliefs and voting patterns.

Their curiosity was sparked. They were more knowledgeable of the issues surrounding all levels of Canadian governments than I was at the time. They had opinions and could back them up with evidence. They were ready to vote. 

And vote they did, but only in a mock trial at school that usually occurs in the years when there is either a provincial or a federal election. Students were curious to see how their vote compared to the vote of the general public. A good civics teacher is able to parse the similarities and differences and help students come to a larger understanding of civic rights and duties. 

But then they can’t apply their real-time knowledge of facts, or use their political inquiry skills until they are 18.

Naysayers argue that youth are too immature to vote. But what makes some of them appear immature, sometimes, is usually impulsiveness, when they make decisions while “experiencing extreme emotions or in the presence of peers,” said James Youniss and Dan Hart in an article published in Psychology Today. However, they argue that voting involves “cool” cognition, and uses “areas of the brain that are sufficiently mature to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote with sophistication equal to that of young adults.”

Young adults are already engaged in the political process at all levels.Thirteen youth have filed an application at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to challenge the voting age in Canada. They argue that the Canada Elections Act is in violation of the Charter of Rights and freedoms and is therefore unconstitutional.

Eighty-eight per cent of young people surveyed across Canada said they had thought about who they would vote for in the last election and 63 per cent felt that politicians would pay more attention to the issues youth care about if they had the right to vote.

Voting early could become a good habit, ensuring an early commitment to politics and community. Many municipalities have already lowered the voting age in the U.S., and in some cases, 16- and 17-year old voters had a higher turn-out rate than older voters.

Young Politicians of Canada has more than 300 Ontario youth, aged between 14 and 24, networking and discussing and exploring political issues specific to their own community. There are many ways to get involved with YPC, including volunteer and leadership opportunities, and speaker series where Members of Parliament, Senators and city councillors foster dialogue and promote youth engagement in politics.

I’m still humming Pete Townshend’s song, which is saying that the kids the person is talking about are not a threat to his relationship — they are alright.

Lowering the voting age is not a threat to democracy. The kids are alright. Let them vote.

Sharon Burns can be reached at [email protected]