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B.C. students empowered to 㽶Ƶֱshift the vote㽶Ƶֱ this election

B.C. Federation of Students launches 㽶ƵֱOur Time is Now㽶Ƶֱ campaign
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Tanysha Klassen, back left, chairperson of the B.C. Federation of Students, and Anouk Borris, chairperson of the Vancouver Island University Students㽶Ƶֱ Union, provide information at VIU㽶Ƶֱs Nanaimo campus last Tuesday. (GREG SAKAKI/The News Bulletin)

More than ever before, Canada㽶Ƶֱs political parties need to be able to speak to the millennial generation.

The B.C. Federation of Students launched its 㽶ƵֱOur Time is Now㽶Ƶֱ campaign last week on Vancouver Island in an effort to get students registered and engaged in the lead-up to the Oct. 21 federal election.

According to a report by the BCFS, the 2019 election marks 㽶Ƶֱthe first time in 40 years that Canadians under 35 will form the largest age cohort,㽶Ƶֱ with millennials representing 37 per cent of the electorate.

㽶ƵֱWhich is historic,㽶Ƶֱ said Tanysha Klassen, chairperson of the B.C. Federation of Students. 㽶ƵֱThat㽶Ƶֱs a huge number of young people that are going to really be able to shift the vote.㽶Ƶֱ

In the 2015 federal election, voter turnout among Canadians aged 18-24 spiked to 57.1 per cent, from 38.8 per cent in 2011 and even lower than that in 2008. Klassen said people who vote for a first time are more likely to vote a second time, and so on, 㽶Ƶֱso it turns into a lifelong pattern.㽶Ƶֱ

She said it㽶Ƶֱs exciting when she㽶Ƶֱs approached by students who have just turned 18 and want to know the process for registering and finding out information about the parties and candidates.

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㽶ƵֱIt㽶Ƶֱs like a privilege you gain when you become that age and suddenly you can help make decisions,㽶Ƶֱ said Anouk Borris, chairperson of the Vancouver Island University Students㽶Ƶֱ Union.

VIUSU launched its get-out-the-vote efforts last Tuesday in Nanaimo as a part of a club information event at the university㽶Ƶֱs cafeteria, and campus young Greens and young Conservatives attended.

Klassen said young people basically care about the 㽶Ƶֱexact same issues㽶Ƶֱ as other voter groups, with affordability and climate high on the list.

㽶ƵֱWe don㽶Ƶֱt have niche issues but we㽶Ƶֱre also not a homogeneous group,㽶Ƶֱ she said. 㽶ƵֱEverybody has these similar issues, like the rest of the population does, but the ways that young people want to go about handling those issues varies greatly.㽶Ƶֱ

The BCFS report notes that there are 㽶Ƶֱreal struggles㽶Ƶֱ facing millennials including affordability, climate change, human rights and limited access to stable economic opportunities.

㽶ƵֱMillennials will be galvanized to seek solutions,㽶Ƶֱ the report notes, including at the ballot box.

The report also comments that 㽶Ƶֱnegative tropes about youth apathy perpetuated by the media and by pundits are a form of voter suppression㽶Ƶֱ by suggesting to young people that their vote won㽶Ƶֱt matter because not enough of their peers are voting. The 㽶ƵֱOur Time is Now㽶Ƶֱ campaign, said Klassen, is meant to empower young people this election.

㽶ƵֱWe know that we get out and vote and that we㽶Ƶֱre activists and that we㽶Ƶֱre engaged,㽶Ƶֱ she said. 㽶ƵֱThere㽶Ƶֱs just always been a negative narrative through media and older generations saying the young people don㽶Ƶֱt vote, which we all know is wrong, but we need to make sure we get out there and prove that to people.㽶Ƶֱ

For more information about the campaign, visit .

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About the Author: Greg Sakaki

I have been in the community newspaper business for two decades, all of those years with Black Press Media.
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