Finally, it’s all over.
The 78-day long federal election campaign has come to an end.
And while there’s been a voter increase of five per cent, the overall turnout was relatively low amongst our youth cohort, the millennial generation.
This past election, we saw parties attacking their opposition’s candidates based on years-old social media posts. We saw parties tackling issues that affect less than two per cent of the population, such as the niqab. We saw parties playing divisive politics by trying to appeal to “old stock” Canadians rather than unifying people toward the common goal of prosperity.
In fact, candidates from the riding of Humber River-Black Creek, where York’s Keele campus is situated, didn’t even show up at the candidates’ debate that York hosted.
Not only is this a riding with one of the lowest voter-turnout rates in the country and with a large student population, but this riding is also home to many of the issues that the election platforms cover.
Excalibur went out on campus to talk to students about whether they were voting or not, and for whom.
Several students said they wouldn’t be voting because supposedly, the economic state of Canada doesn’t matter to them until they start paying taxes.
Last time I checked, we all paid a sales tax. Most of us work a part-time job and file income taxes.
And when we finally do land that full-time career, the typical university grad will make thousands of dollars less for full-time work than the same-aged person did in the 1970’s.
These days, youth devote an average of three years more to post-secondary education and take on way larger student debts than ever before.
And after going to school for so long, grads get jobs that pay less than the previous generations have ever earned.
In the past, hard work paid off and you had something to show for it.
Nowadays, young people are burdened with student debt and the rising cost of living so much that owning property and building toward a stable future has become a far-fetched dream.
While there’s a fundamental socioeconomic deterioration facing young Canadians, there is hope for the future.
Politics still responds and holds power for those who organize and show up.
Unfortunately, mainstream media tends to only highlight political mishaps and scandals and are meant to distract us from other more important issues.
Don’t let your frustration with senate scandals and other wrongdoings make you tune out of politics.
Because when we tune out, that’s when politics marches forward, spends money, and makes laws in their best interest rather than ours.
Now that the grueling election days are over and we have a winner, hold your local elected representative accountable.
Make yourself known, ask them questions, ask about your financial realities, ask about what they’re going to do about precarious employment, and ask how they’re going to help you take your first step toward a career and not just “a job for tomorrow.” Take up their time; make yourself important to them.
Talk about changing our voting system to ensure proportional representation, so that next election we can spend more time discussing major issues instead of having distracting and demoralizing debates about strategic voting. We could actually focus on the issues, the platform, and the candidates at hand.
In this democracy, citizens are essentially the bosses of the government. Our job is to hold politicians accountable and have the government working for us. Our civic engagement can make or break their careers.
Go out there, sign petitions, join protests, talk to your MPs, and remind them of their campaign promises. Ensure that they stick to their word because the fate of Canada lies in your hands. Change happens because one person at a time decides it needs to.
Be one of them.
Tatiana Prisiajny, Features Editor
