SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A group of about 10 youth held signs in a non-partisan demonstration they titled "Vote Mob," at the Liberal Party rally outside city hall Monday.

Emma Welsh, left, Arpine Hovhannisyan and Navu De Silva take part in a "vote mob" at Somba K'e Park outside city hall on Monday for Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff's barbecue which was open to the public. - Katherine Hudson/NNSL photo

It was a chance to let federal party leaders know youth ages 18 to 30 are engaged in the democratic process and will be voting on May 2.

"There are a lot of voices in the youth that aren't being heard right now and the more people that are voting, the more they'll listen to us," said demonstrator Navu De Silva.

Ignatieff took a moment during his rally in front of the crowd to thank the vote mob for their presence.

"Look at those people up there. 'We will vote.' Isn't that great, young Canadians wanting to vote. Everybody says young people are cynical, young people are detached, young people don't participate. Well look at that. That tells you that that is not true. That's the future of our country right here," said Ignatieff.

Jerry Sweet organized the vote mob and said it was important to energize the youth to come out and see party leaders such as Ignatieff and Prime Minister Stephen Harper when they were in town.

"Specifically in the NWT, we have the lowest voter turnout of youth across Canada. Because our population is so small, it'll only take a couple of hundred of extra youth to come out and vote and then all of a sudden, we're the biggest turnout in Canada. That's the reason why we're pushing this," he said.

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