Canadian Political Parties Make It Rain to Woo Young Voters

In a rare move, two Canadian political parties are courting the age group that's least likely to turn up on election day: young people.

Last week the Liberals and the New Democratic Party both made hefty platform announcements aimed at the issue of youth underemployment, even though young Canadians are a historically non-voting demographic.

On Friday, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau singled out the group when he announced $1.5 billion to help young people find employment, and earlier in the week, NDP leader Tom Mulcair promised $100 million a year over four years to create a total of 40,000 jobs for young people. Mulcair also said an NDP government would "crack down" on unpaid internships.

Across the country, young Canadians are struggling to pay down student debt and find stable employment. Youth unemployment sits at 13.1percent—double the national average.

Young Canadians are graduating with an average of $37,000 in debt nationally, and one in three 25 to 29 year olds take a low-skill job after graduation. That means if you're a young Canadian, it's harder to buy a house and start a family—let alone pay rent.

And although a new study released last week by Samara Canada showed that young Canadians are by some measures more politically engaged than older Canadians, the fact is they don't vote as often as their elders.

The number of voters aged 29 and younger has declined sharply since 1980, and in the last federal election in 2011, the majority of young Canadians sat out.

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It's a vicious cycle, explains Caro Loutfi, executive director of Apathy is Boring, a non-partisan group with the goal of engaging young electors in the democratic process.

"Young people don't vote because politicians don't listen. Politicians aren't paying attention to them because young people aren't voting," she told VICE News.

But Loutfi says she's not sure political promises targeting youth underemployment will work. The largest influence on whether an elector will vote is peer-to-peer engagement — not party promises, she pointed out.

"Too many young people face a catch-22: they're told they need experience to get their first job, but they need that first job to get that experience," Mulcair said last week when he promised funding. He also courted a wider demographic by emphasizing that parents and grandparents want to see their children and grandchildren succeed.

During his announcement, Liberal leader Trudeau said "under [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper, a shortage of good youth jobs has become the new normal."

The $1.5 billion Liberal promise breaks down into the following funding chunks: $300 million a year over three years to create 120,000 jobs, $40 million each year for co-op positions, $25 million for young people to work and travel across the country, plus they want to hire 5,000 young people to work at Parks Canada and with environmental groups.

So far this election, the ruling Conservatives have played to their base, appealing mostly to families and seniors with their campaign promises.

In the 2008 US election, Barack Obama successfully seduced the youth vote, but it remains to be seen whether the same could happen in Canada on October 19.

Loutfi said it is encouraging to see parties bringing young people into the national conversation.

"People need to start focusing on the youth vote because that's what's going to sustain our democracy for years to come. If we ignore the youth vote, because it's been declining for so many years, if that trend continues, in one generation we'll have less than 50 percent of all Canadians showing up on election day," she said.

"So the youth vote is of such importance, not just for youth issues but for Canada's democracy."

There are 5.5 million Millennials between 18 and 30 who are eligible to vote in Canada, making up 20 percent of the electorate, Loutfi said.

"Maybe [Canadian politicians] are starting to realize that young people can be a deciding factor in this election. And that's powerful."

Follow Hilary Beaumont on Twitter: @hilarybeaumont

Photo by Adam Scotti