To the editor;
“The under 30 crowd won’t vote, they just don’t care...”
I heard those words the other day, and while I respect where the sentiment comes from, I can’t find any reason to accept it.
For too many years the political world has dismissed the young adults in our nation. There are a great deal of very bright, well informed, and very interested young voters in our country, and the days of ignoring them must be put behind us.
Those I talk with who are under 30 years old will, and do vote.
I find that largely they fall into two different camps; either they are disenfranchised with the system because nobody has bothered to engaged them, or they have involved themselves in spite of the disregard they have been treated with.
Neither of those groups are guilty of not caring about the country or our political process. In fact, they care a great deal, and when their opinion is sought the responses given can really surprise.
I have close family and friends north of 50 years old who are also disenfranchised with our political system. They tell me about intentionally not voting or spoiling their ballot in protest.
These problems are not exclusive of our youth, rather they are represented throughout the population. There are many problems to solve, and it’s unrealistic to expect wholesale change overnight.
That being said, there are real ways that we can make a difference. We are letting people know that the Liberal Party of Canada is building an incredibly inclusive movement. Our leadership vote last year was the most open and inclusive leadership vote in Canadian history. Our meetings are moving from predominantly closed door to open, and our candidate in the 2015 General Election will have won an open nomination race held right here in the Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding. Our meetings are more open than ever before, we are doing more than simply talking about plans for inclusiveness, we are acting on it.
People care about our nation’s future, regardless of age. It’s refreshing to see that we are finally listening, and engaging the next generation who will be able to lead our nation into the years ahead. They are our nation’s future, and we are lucky to have them.
Tyler Carpentier
President
Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo EDA
Liberal Party of Canada
Twitter: @kamloopsgrit