YOU VOTE? YOU MATTER!

By Danielle Gagnier

The upcoming election has two students thinking about what they want for the future.

Max Toulouse, 18, and Spencer Virtue, 18, are both able to vote for the first time and plan on voting in the Canadian federal election Oct. 19. Both Toulouse and Virtue graduated from high school in June and took a year off before pursuing post-secondary education.

Virtue and his family never discussed politics while he was growing up as it was considered impolite. Although his parents have a distinct political slant, he has been following the election process himself and says their opinions will not change his. As a student one of the social issues he finds most important is Canada’s lack of jobs

“Windsor’s unemployment rate just keeps going up,” said Virtue. “There’s not many jobs available right now. I feel like it’s a huge issue and we need to get it under control.”

Toulouse never discussed politics with his family either but only because he did not enjoy the topic. He has not been following the political process himself but he plans to vote in the election based on his parents’ views.

“I’m going to vote because I’m a good Canadian citizen and everyone’s vote matters,” said Toulouse. “If everyone says ‘my vote doesn’t matter’ there’s a big group of people who don’t vote who could have made a huge difference in the results.”

Statistics from Election Canada show that in 2011 only 50 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 voted in the federal election whereas 82 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 65 and 74 voted.

“I don’t know anyone our age who knows anything about politics,” said Toulouse.

Both Toulouse and Virtue agree that the education system should be required to teach more about politics and provide students with better opportunities to learn more about political issues that affect them.

“As long as you have a truly unbiased teacher I think students would benefit from learning about politics in school,” said Virtue.

According to Elections Canada, 3.6 million Canadians have already voted in the advanced polls that opened over the Thanksgiving weekend. Polls are open from 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. on voting day for those who are registered.