Dear members of the Special Committee on Democratic and Electoral Reform, We are a group of high-school youth that are part of Foundry’s Agenda Gap program. Our mission is to empower youth in Abbotsford and across B.C. by advocating for stronger political representation and policies that support youth mental health and well-being. We believe young people should have a direct voice in shaping the decisions that impact their communities and personal lives. Through activism and education, we work toward a future where youth leadership and advocacy drive a more just, equitable, and inclusive society. We are writing to you today because in 2019 the NDP passed a policy convention resolution to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds. That year, the BC Green Party and Union of Municipalities unanimously supported a call to lower the provincial voting age as well. Yet, despite the current political climate and its threats to democracy, and the fact that Young New Democrats have party leadership voting rights, 16 and 17 year old youth remain disenfranchised from voting. This is a longstanding request whose time is overdue. It is aligned with NDP values of supporting youth engagement and addressing the needs of diverse Canadians.  Youth represent one fifth of Canada’s population, with 674,500 youth under the age of 18 in British Columbia alone. Increasingly, youth are leading social movements and getting involved in their communities. Further, young people aged 16 to 17 can decide to work an unrestricted amount of hours, pay taxes, join the armed forces, become emancipated, get married, consent to sex, leave school, and drive. Young people contribute greatly to their communities and Canadian society as a whole. For example, our economic contributions as a large part of the labour force are deeply impactful upon sustaining our collective future. Further, we know that youth who vote are both passionate and knowledgeable about current affairs. In alignment with Canada’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, young people deserve the right that voting affords to participate in political life and influence the decisions and policies that affect them.  As documented in the recent Lowering the Voting Age: UNICEF Canada Policy Brief (2024),  a number of countries around the world, such as Austria, Belgium and Scotland, have empowered youth aged 16-18 with the right to vote. Research reveals there are no downsides to youth participation. In fact, such changes increase and broaden civic and political engagement by also increasing parent voting engagement. Extending voting rights to youth after they turn 16 also resulted in participation over a longer term, strengthening their democratic processes.  Canadians are confronting a multitude of challenges affecting our wellbeing, such as financial and social inequality, climate change, and threats to democracy. Considering these challenges alongside the decline in voter engagement, this request is timely as youth will bring a fresh perspective, new solutions, diverse opinions, and increased political representation. Lowering the voting age to 16 will ultimately strengthen participation, representation, and democracy itself.  Thank you, in advance, for your action on this critical issue.  Sincerely, Agenda Gap Youth

This election, help us fight the far-right and elect candidates who will stand up for working people. 

A residential school apologist with a history of sexist and transphobic positions is running for the Conservatives in North Island—Powell River — and the polls have him in the lead.  Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn is making national headlines for publicly stating that Canada’s residential school system, which claimed the lives of thousands of Indigenous children through its hundred-year history, did not constitute a genocide.  Despite the fact that regional Indigenous leadership and 57 and growing names of local mayors and councillors in the riding have called for his removal, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is defending Aaron Gunn’s statements. It is unacceptable for a prospective Member of Parliament to dispute the facts of Canada’s colonial history. The trauma of residential schools still lives on in many Indigenous communities. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission brought to light the dark history of Canada’s residential schools as sites of rampant abuse, designed to erase Indigenous cultures, where children were torn from their families, stripped of their languages, and subjected to systemic harm. In 2022, the House of Commons officially called the residential school system what it was: a genocide, carried out with the intent of erasing a people from the land.  But now, Aaron Gunn is making a mockery of that truth in a cynical attempt to buy votes from his far-right base.  We the undersigned call on Pierre Poilievre to immediately remove Aaron Gunn as the Conservative candidate for North-Island—Powell River. Sources: [1] Open Letter to CPC, https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1yn1znTrv3ZYF_WDVIZhy5rncPAq_vlZpyrdJuf00z0A/mobilebasic?usp=embed_facebook&urp=gmail_link 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people. 

This election, help us fight the far-right and candidates who will stand up for working people.