Windsor students struggle with the power to vote

By: Ashley Ann Mentley

Many University of Windsor students have strong concerns about the city, but mixed feelings about voting in the upcoming election.

Megan Sinclair, 20, and Lisan DeNijs, 19, are both third-year concurrent education students who moved to Windsor to attend the university.  They have slightly different views on it, but both acknowledge the importance of being involved with voting.

DeNijs moved from Muirkirk, Ont. to earn her teaching certificate and said she plans to vote on Oct. 27 and wants other students to do the same.

“It’s our future,” she said.  “If we want these issues dealt with we need to pick someone who will take care of them.”

DeNijs is concerned about the amount of construction, job opportunities and the accessibility of the city for students. She already does not see a future for herself in Windsor.

“I wouldn’t want to get a job here,” she said.  “I want to get a job in a city where I can have a family and I don’t feel like Windsor is the place for that.  It’s all construction or factory jobs.”

Sinclair, who is originally from Mississauga, Ont., said student safety and unemployment are her primary concerns.

“There have recently been three instances around of sex offenders,” Sinclair said.  “That’s kind of unnerving.”

Despite Sinclair’s concerns about safety, she said that overall she enjoys the city.  Like her classmate, though, she is not optimistic about finding a job in Windsor when she graduates in 2016.  A report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that analyzed Statistics Canada employment data identified Windsor as a “hotspot” where the unemployment levels are over 20 per cent.

Sinclair said she does not plan to vote in the upcoming municipal election because she has too much school work to focus on.  Keeping young people in Windsor and the lack of jobs across the city are points of concern for many of the residents.  With more than 20,000 post-secondary students in the city both Sinclair and DeNijs recognize the importance of voting.

“If students don’t vote, there’s a whole slew of people whose opinions don’t count,” Sinclair said. “It’s weird, because it does affect us.  Maybe if the city had more influence on issues at the university, then I would vote.”

“It’s our right,” said DeNijs, “and not enough young people make use of it.”  She said she hopes to help elect a mayor who will make Windsor a better place for students and recent graduates.