Politicians need to engage more with youth voters, Ryerson professor says

Ryerson University students unsure and undecided on who to vote for in upcoming provincial election

Nearly half of Ryerson students are unsure of which provincial party leader they believe would do the best job as Premier of Ontario, as indicated in a poll conducted at Ryerson University.

The poll, which interviewed 567 Ryerson undergraduate students, indicated that about 43 per cent of students were unsure of which provincial party leader would do the best job as Premier, and 37 per cent were unsure of how they would rate the current provincial government’s performance.

Voter turnout rates in Canada during provincial and federal elections are historically poor, particularly amongst youth voters that are aged 18-24.

Michael McGregor, a politics professor at Ryerson University, said exposure to politics and political parties that have youth-targeted policies is important in engaging youth voters, and increasing voter turnout rates amongst that demographic.  

“Political parties need to have more policies that appeal to young people, and a common complaint is that none of the parties do that” he said.

In the 2015 federal election youth voter turnout rose to 56.2 per cent from 38.2 per cent, 18 percentage points.

During that federal election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau targeted youth voters directly, through ad campaigns, media interviews, and policies in marijuana legalization and post-secondary education.

Trudeau’s youth oriented promises showed that political engagement in youth increased when politicians actively created policies and platform-sharing techniques that appealed to their issues.

Kheiyana Gent, a third-year biomedical sciences student at Ryerson University said that she is genuinely interested in Canadian politics, but feels political parties fall short in reaching out to youth voters.

“I haven’t seen or heard anything about the election. If I saw more things on social media about people’s platforms I would definitely feel more engaged,” she said.

Although Ryerson students are undecided about their political choices for the upcoming provincial election, youth-targeted platforms and higher social media activity may help with increasing political engagement.

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.