Game-Changers in town

 "Rogue page", Brigette DePape, was in town trying to encourage young adults to get out and vote. Photo by K.A. Smith.

How do we engage the youth to vote? How do we explain that each vote counts? How do we make it easier for new voters to take part when during the last federal election only 1 in 3 young people voted?  These questions were put to participants at The 2015 Game-Changers Tour held at Nipissing University on Monday.

The event was hosted by the so-called rogue page who once gave water to Prime Minister Harper. DePape made headlines in 2011, when during the parliamentary speech from the throne, she held up a hand painted stop sign with the words “Stop Harper”.

DePape is encouraging young people to vote in the upcoming federal election. She now carries a sign of a green go light with the words, “Go Vote”. DePape says if young people vote, they could be the game-changers for Canada.

“A lot of young people feel disempowered like our vote dosen’t matter. This tour is to help students and young people to realize we do have power. We can see a change and have a government that reflects our values of equality, fairness and protecting the environment.”

The tour is sponsored by the Council of Canadians, which is non-partisan.  Event goers included those from OPSEU Sudbury, North Bay and Sudbury student leaders, young Greens, NDPers, Liberals, and Conservatives, as well as federal NDP candidate Kathleen Jodouin and federal Liberal candidate Anthony Rota. DePape is encouraged with participants uniting together to discuss the barriers to youth voting.

During her presentation, DePape pointed out the last election in the Nipissing-Timiskaming riding was won by only 18 votes. She said in such a tight race, if everyone had voted from one class, it could have changed the outcome.

“There have been some great ideas about boosting voter turnout like making sure there is a polling station on campus. Tonight we heard of a suggestion to include voting info in the frosh kit for new students.”

Alistair Woods was invited by the Nipissing University Student Union to participate. He is Ontario’s chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students. His group and the Council of Canadians are currently working together taking the federal government to court on the Fair Elections Act. Woods points out students without a permanent residence have yet another barrier to voting.

“We want to get young people interested in the issues that are affecting their lives, so high tuition fees, student debt, and a tough job market. Voting is one step that you can actually take to make a positive change on all of those issues. If young people vote, we can vastly change the political landscape.”