By Trevor Green
Kyle Rae, a former Toronto city councillor, is concerned that Ryerson students are apathetic and not politically engaged as Ontario heads into the 2018 provincial election.
“What I have been finding in my teaching is that students have come to university without having an interest in politics or government issues,” said Rae. “What this poll result suggests to me is that young people are not connecting with their political representation, and certainly not with Kathleen Wynne.”
In a survey conducted by the Ryerson School of Journalism, 37 per cent of students said they were not sure how they would rate Kathleen Wynne’s performance.
Rae, who is a political science professor at Ryerson, was a member of city council from 1991 to 2010.
Rae feels that high schools are not equipping young people with political knowledge of the democratic process.
Rae also hesitates to be enthusiastic about the performance of Wynne’s government.
“I am not sure she is a very good leader. She is a mediator. I know her, I have worked with her, I respect her, but she is not an effective leader,” said Rae.
“For example, her decision to sell hydro is an appalling decision.”
Rae believes that young people will become more engaged with politics as they get older.
“Maybe it’s because they are living in their parent’s basement, and they are not yet paying rent, and they seem to have no knowledge in the role they can play in their government. It would help if they read the newspaper.”
However, for Ryan Lancaster, a fourth-year political science student at Ryerson, the problem is not apathy or a lack of engagement.
Lancaster, 21, feels that students are engaged, but they are focused on what is happening at the federal level – not the provincial.
“Politicians such as Justin Trudeau have been able to connect with younger voters, in the same Bernie Sanders has been able to dominate the youth vote in the United States,” said Lancaster.
Lancaster pointed to the fact that in the last 2015 federal election, voter turnout among youth increased by 18 percent.
“Jagmeet Singh of the NDP is now hugely popular with most of my friends, and we are talking about him. Kathleen Wynne nor any other provincial politician has been able to engage with youth on the same level as our federal politicians.”
The poll was conducted by Ryerson School of Journalism students. They surveyed 567 full-time students at Ryerson University between Oct. 6 to Oct. 19.
The poll carries a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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