Voting should be mandatory in Canada: Analyst

Voting should be mandatory in Canada: Analyst
Parties cater to people 65 and over
Tamara Slobogean Apr 19, 2011 07:40:53 AM
0 Related Stories

•Two federal leaders touch down in the Lower Mainland
•Harper expands tough-on-crime agenda
•Poll: Canadians would like to have beer with NDP's Layton
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Voter turnout in this country is notoriously low and traditionally blamed on an apathetic electorate.  There are different theories about how to engage people and one of those is to make voting mandatory.

At Citizen Capitalism Andy Macaulay lists the countries where voting is considered such an important part of being a democracy that citizens are legally obligated to cast ballots.

"I'm not sure as Canadians we are ready to make that decision or not, but it's certainly something that we ought to contemplate.  I don't think anybody should be happy with the participation rate that currently exists, particularly among younger voters," adds Macaulay.

He explains younger voters don't engage because voting has never become a habit.  "It hasn't become a habit... they live in a very different world.  They're engaged in their lives through technology in a way that voting doesn't facilitate."

Macauley says the three big parties cater to Canadian seniors, who they know go to the polls.