Vote for my policy on Encouraging Youth Democratic Participation and Improving Civic Education on Common Ground!

Sign up and vote here!


Very excited to see the new online platform tool Common Ground be rolled out at provincial council today. Please register, take a look at the policy, and vote for it if it's something you want to see the party move forward on!

Brush up on my youth democratic participation and civic education policy in time for provincial council!

With provincial council coming up this weekend, here's a brush up on my policy that got prioritized by the Ontario Young Liberals at Summer Fling back in August. Here is a blog post I wrote outlining some of the stats and evidence behind this policy, and why I think it would work for Ontario.

ENCOURAGING YOUTH DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION AND IMPROVING CIVIC EDUCATION

BY: WILLIAM NORMAN, MISSISSAUGA SOUTH

WHEREAS the lowest voter registration rates are for young voters 18-24 years of age

WHEREAS there is a positive correlation between voting and being registered as a voter before General Voting Day

WHEREAS Australia and several American states allow for voter registration below the age of 18

WHEREAS the Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia recommended in 2011 in his Report to the Legislative Assembly to amend the BC Elections Act to allow the provisional registration of individuals when they are 16 years of age

WHEREAS Ontario Young Liberals have previously passed policies encouraging youth democratic participation and improving the Civics class as part of Ontario’s curriculum

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Ontario government amend the Ontario Elections Act to permit the registration of individuals onto the voter list when they are 15 years of age

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Ontario government amend the Ontario High School curriculum to include the voter registration process, as the majority of students in grade 10 would be 15

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Ontario government continues to work with post-secondary educational institutions to help students living away from home vote.

Hudak celebrates Franco-Ontarien Day by appointing a Francophone Affairs critic...who doesn't speak French

I'm not going to pretend that my French is great, but I'm also not a Francophone affairs critic for the Official Opposition. 

"Willing to bring it … hard", "stoke[ing]...frustration and anger" - What the expect from NDP campaigns in the upcoming by-elections

That's what Pundits' Guide and David Akin wrote about new Mulcair candidate Linda McQuaig's approach to politics in their (both very good) summaries of the Toronto Centre nominations. I was happy to spend the day pulling vote for Chrystia Freeland, who McQuaig wasted no time in attacking. Those who read my blog frequently will know that I would be a wild hypocrite to pretend to be offended by going on the attack, but as Liberals, we have to realize both that Mulcair's NDP will pull as few punches as the Harper Conservatives in both Toronto Centre and Bourassa going after Liberals and making personal attacks both nationally and on local candidates. The "Love is better than anger" etc stuff was always more how New Democrats saw themselves then how they actually behaved, but Mulcair's NDP's determination to attack the third-party Liberals years before a general election is something Liberals are going to have to deal with when campaigning directly against the NDP. In the past, Liberal campaigns against the NDP failed too often when they simply boiled down to strategic voting arguements - an arguement that collapsed in the 2011 federal election. We have to be unafraid to defend our Leader and candidate from personal and policy attacks, and argue that Justin Trudeau and candidates like Chrystia Freeland are better suited to address the needs of all Canadians. And yes, we can make arguements like how McQuaid's support of "Israeli Apartheid Week" and Mulcair's main focus as leader being tearing open the Constitution with Senate abolishment demonstrate that the NDP isn't focused on the issues of everyday Canadians. As a soon to be constituent of Toronto Centre, I'll be looking forward to helping out Justin Trudeau and the Freeland campaign.

Hudak Finance critic bills you for second home

If Hudak wants to lower the deficit, his own Finance critic not billing you 20 grand for a rental home while he spends his time in Niagara-on-the-Lake, 150 km from his riding of Thornhill might be a better idea than firing thousands of teachers and nurses.

Last year, Tory finance critic Peter Shurman claimed $20,719, the maximum permitted, from a housing allowance that was set up to help representatives of far-flung constituencies pay for accommodation in Toronto. Mr. Shurman received the funds because he claims a home in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. – about 150 kilometres away from his riding – as his primary residence. He uses the money to help pay rent on his Toronto apartment.

As a point of reference for how close Shurman could be to Queen's Park if he actually lived in his constituency, if Shurman spent more time in the riding he's supposed to represent, he might know his constit office is only a half hour drive to Queen's Park (my morning commute is twice that).

Final version of my policy to be presented at Summer Fling: Encouraging Youth Democratic Participation and Improving Civic Education

My original policy had some friendly amendments for clarity and language, so here is what I'll be presenting at Summer Fling this weekend:

Encouraging Youth Democratic Participation and Improving Civic Education (Provincial)

By: William Norman, Mississauga South  

WHEREAS – The lowest voter registration rates are for young voters 18-24 years of age

WHEREAS – There is a positive correlation between voting and being registered as a voter before General Voting Day

WHEREAS – Australia and several American states allow for voter registration below the age of 18

WHEREAS – The Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia recommended in 2011 in his Report to the Legislative Assembly to amend the BC Elections Act to allow the provisional registration of individuals when they are 16 years of age

WHEREAS – Ontario Young Liberals have previously passed policies encouraging youth democratic participation and improving the Civics class as part of Ontario’s curriculum

BE IT RESOLVED THAT – The Ontario government amend the Ontario Elections Act to permit the registration of individuals onto the voter list when they are 16 years of age

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT – The Ontario government amend the Ontario High School curriculum to include the voter registration process, as the majority of students in grade 10 would be 16. 

Here are some backgrounders promoting youth pre-registration:

Here is the 2011 report from the Chief Electoral Officer of BC where he recommends allowing youth to pre-register to vote at 16

"Encouraging youth participation

The lowest voter registration rates are for young voters 18-24 years of age. There is a 

positive correlation between voting and being registered as a voter before General Voting 

Day. The most effective means of registering youth may be to approach them before they 

graduate from high school. Currently, voter registration is restricted to those at least 18 

years of age, an age when many youth have left high school. 

Australia has addressed this issue by allowing provisional voter registration of 17 year 

olds. Several American states have provisional registration for 16 or 17 year olds, or 

have introduced Bills or declared their intention to do so in this regard.

Legislators may wish to consider allowing the provisional registration of individuals 

when they are 16 years of age. The voting age could remain at 18, with provisional 

registration becoming an active registration on an individual’s 18th birthday. Permitting 

early registration at the age of 16 would permit Elections BC to work with schools and 

the driver licensing program to ensure maximum exposure to the registration process for 

young voters. Many high school teachers have expressed support for this concept as it 

would allow meaningful action by their students in the context of civics education. 

Improving the accessibility of registration opportunities for youth may have a longer-term 

effect on voter engagement and turnout."

This has background on how several US states allow youth pre-registration

"Several other states have changed registration rules to encourage civic participation by youth. 

In Hawaii, eligible 16-year-olds are allowed to pre-register so that their voter status is 

automatically activated at age 18. In the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Maine, 

Wisconsin, Missouri, and Texas, pre-registration is open to 17 year olds. Federal legislation 

was introduced in 2004, the Gateway to Democracy Act, to allow teenagers to preregister, 

with an emphasis on those applying for their driver’s licenses (in most states, at 16 years of 

age). Wisconsin reaches out to young voters with a state law establishing a “registration 

deputy” at every high school, filled by a volunteering teacher or staff person."

Here is a really in-depth study of the impact of youth pre-registration in Hawaii and Florida, demonstrating the link between pre-registering and actual voter turnout as well as the importance of civic education from George Mason University

"Thousands of young people in these states take advantage of preregistration, and preregistration appears to have positive and persisting long-term effects on their voting propensities...Success of preregistration is maximized when election officials and educators act as partners.... As policy makers consider how to implement preregistration programs elsewhere, providing for means of ensuring participation by educators, such as requiring preregistration as a component of a mandatory high school civics curriculum, will likely result in the most robust implementation of preregistration."

That last quote I think really brings it home. 

More shots fired in Ontario PC civil war as Education Critic Lisa MacLeod savages Transportation Critic Frank Klees on Twitter

As the Ontario PC civil war over Tim Hudak's continued leadership rages on, here is what PC Education Critic (and many say potential future leadership candidate Lisa MacLeod) had to say to her fellow PC frontbencher and Transportation Critic Frank Klees.

Next time the Hudak PC's ask to be taken seriously on the transit file, remember that this is the opinion his Transportation critic is held in by one of his highest profile MPPs.