The youth are coming!

In the 2015 federal election the party leaders’ platform promises cover most bases from economic stability, to foreign policy to environmental issues, and there are 3 million people who may sway the votes—the 18-24 demographic.
Lucy Coady, 19, is a first-time voter in this election and is excited to finally have a say in how Canada is being led. “I feel that the candidates are focusing on the middle class and the middle aged… leaving behind our generation,” she said.
In April, political satirist Rick Mercer encouraged youth to vote in the upcoming election, saying, “If you are between the age of 18 and 25, and want to scare the hell out of the people that run this country, this time around do the unexpected—vote.”
Those words caught Coady’s attention.
“I feel like in every generation the older people are afraid of youth, we’re the ones that make change happen. People in older generations are comfortable with the way things are now,” she said. “Maybe they’re scared of youth because we aren’t comfortable, we want change and I feel like the government is scared of change.”
If the polls are right then many young voters across the country, like Coady, are looking for change in the political system.
“With different leaders in power we have the opportunity to move forward, but for big changes to be able to happen, the Canadian mindset has to change,” Coady said. “That’s hard to ask of people who are comfortable.”
With a projected 30-40 per cent youth voter turnout—according to Elections Canada—in comparison to previous elections, Coady hopes that her classmates will make the decision to vote, saying “This election better watch out, ‘cause we’re coming for it.”