TALOYOAK/SPENCE BAY
Hallmarks of this federal election held Oct. 19, which saw the Liberals handily sweep the Conservatives from their 10-year rule, include the concepts that "voting matters" and the "youth vote is important."
Eli Auapalu drops his ballot in the ballot box at Netsilik Ilihakvik in Taloyoak during a parallel vote that took place during the federal election, thanks to the Student Vote Project. - photo courtesy of Gina Pizzo - |
Nunavut is unique in Canada in terms of youthfulness, and it could be said that nowhere else does it matter so much for young people to understand the electoral system and to participate in it. The median age in Nunavut is 24.
That's why Netsilik Ilihakvik teacher George Hill registered the school for a second year with the Student Vote Project.
"I had a large number of students who just turned 18 or 19 in the last year or so, who had never voted in a federal election. They've never gone through the process. In fact, most of them didn't even bother voting in the hamlet election last year. So they're not familiar with the political process," said Hill.
"With the fact that the youth is the largest demographic group in this territory they could, if they wanted to, they could wield a lot of political power. They could elect people, they could make or break an election candidate if they all got together and decided to go one way or another."
Youth are also in a position to vote in Inuit regional organizations and in elections to the board of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI).
"I keep telling the kids here, you are the only youth in this country, that I'm aware of, that are allowed to participate in elections at the age of 16. There's no other group of youth that have that privilege. And they're not voting. That's why I included the Grade 9s, because they're 15 to 16 right now. As I say, whatever is going to be decided in these organizations is going to directly affect you. You'd better have a voice," he said.
On Dec. 8, 2014, only about 31 per cent of Inuit beneficiaries turned out to vote in the election of a vice-president for NTI. In previous NTI elections, 2006 held the low at 23 per cent, while 2010 peaked at 35 per cent.
The Student Vote Project had more than 850,000 students participating in all but one of 338 Canadian ridings. In Nunavut, 12 schools registered a total 1,198 students.
"Student Vote is a parallel election for students under the voting age, coinciding with federal, provincial, territorial and municipal elections," states the project website. "The purpose is to provide young Canadians with an opportunity to experience the voting process firsthand and build the habits of informed and engaged citizenship. Voter turnout in Canada has been declining for decades at all levels of elections, particularly among young people. Studies have also shown that habits of voting and non-voting persist over time, so if young people don't vote now, there is good reason to believe that they won't become voters later in life."
"They sent out a ballot box," said Hill, "and we get all of the ballots just the same as at the normal polling stations. And the students went through the whole process."
Hill said the students came up with questions.
"Slowly but surely the kids started working on that. Most of the questions I could answer. Some I couldn't," said Hill. "CBC Radio 1 had the debate on. I told the students, we'll type it up and send it in and see what happens."
Two of the questions made it to the candidates on debate night, one in the Inuktitut version and one in the English version. Only Jack Anawak e-mailed the students with replies to their questions, which centered around many of the concerns on the minds of Nunavummiut generally, with some specific to youth.
Twenty-nine students voted at the Netsilik Ilihakvik parallel polling station. Of those, 17 voted for Liberal Hunter Tootoo, nine voted for Conservative Leona Aglukkaq and three voted for NDP Jack Anawak. These figures more or less reflect the national results for the Student Vote Project.
Hill said the majority of his students who could vote in the actual election did cast a ballot.
But beyond voting, Hill is adamant when he says youth "are the next leaders and they have to start getting experience."
"There are still some incredible leaders around from negotiating the lands claim agreement that can be excellent teachers for these kids. There are lots of leaders in the community that went through that process and they can mentor these kids.
"There are a lot of youth in this territory that would make excellent leaders. It's time to get these kids politically involved. They have to become involved in order to take the territory to the next level. Not that there aren't leaders doing that now but eventually these kids that I'm looking at here are going to be the leaders."
Questions for all candidates
Here is what each of the Nunavut federal election candidates were asked by Taloyoak's Netsilik Ilihakvik Grade 9 to 12 students
1. If you were elected into Parliament, what would you do for Nunavut?
2. If your party forms the next government in Ottawa, what do you propose doing for the youth of Nunavut?
3. The youth in Nunavut forms the largest group in the territory. If your party forms the next federal government, what infrastructure will you provide to the communities of Nunavut?
4. If your party forms the next government in Ottawa, what will you do to help alleviate the shortfall in housing in the territory?
5. If your party forms the next government in Ottawa, what will they do to ensure food security and combat the high cost of food in the territory?
6. If your party forms the next government in Ottawa, what will they do to help create jobs in Nunavut?
7. So far in this campaign, the only promises of infrastructure have been centered in a select few communities within the territory. If your party forms the next government in Ottawa, will any new infrastructure projects be equally shared amongst the three regions in Nunavut?
Source: Netsilik Ilihakvik
