Without a doubt, voter apathy in the developed world is a huge issue. Canadians are guilty and younger Canadians even more so. I would like to take a moment to reflect on how my experience has been this year as I try to improve my democratic involvement track record.
First things first, someone my age says to themself: "This election I am going to vote!" Good for them, great first step! Next step: "Ok, who are my candidates and what are they all about?" At this point, in the weeks prior to an election, baby boomers will tell you that the only time a comprehensive list of all the candidates (complete with a blurb about each one) is readily available is in the newspaper immediately prior to the election. Naturally someone of my generation (let's say 18-35 years old) says, "That can't be right, let me show you how the Google machine works".
A quick search for "Prince George election 2014 candidates" tells all. To my shock and amazement, there are only a few websites that actually list all the candidates and none of them really give me a run down of their platforms or any other info that a young voter wants to know.
Truly, many candidates do have web sites. But if their link isn't one of the first ones to come up on Google, then no one cares. Is there a user friendly and to the point website that lists all the candidates for mayor and council along with a blurb on each one somewhere? Maybe, but if it isn't on page 1 in the Google search results then again, no one cares. I did find one site that came close to doing the job. Sadly it is not front and center, and the list of candidates for council, although complete, has only elicited a blurb from 9 of what seems like hundreds of candidates.
For now, I will continue to plod on in the quest to my inform my election day choices. Though it looks like hours of bouncing around the internet and sifting through newspapers is still the only way to properly inform myself. Sadly though, for most of 18-35s, if we can't get the gist of it within 10 minutes on Google, we're probably not going to bother.
Alex Deevy
Prince George
Editor's Note: Everything Deevy is asking for can be found at www.princegeorgecitizen.com/your-vote-matters.
