He said low voter turnout in last year’s election among people 18 to 25 has prompted his party to go after fresh-faced citizens. Mulcair said 65 per cent of that age group didn’t bother to vote in 2011 but added that 40 per cent of the overall electorate didn’t either.
Mulcair said federal New Democrats will hit Canada’s post-secondary campuses this fall, as well as schools where most pupils would be too young to vote if an election were held now.
“I met a young man at an event in my riding (Friday) night who told me he was turning 15 in July. I said: ‘You know, you’re allowed to vote in the next federal election.’ He was all happy; he hadn’t thought about it.
“But believe me, we’re thinking about it,” Mulcair told delegates to the Nova Scotia NDP provincial convention at an area resort. “We’re going to be in the high schools as well. We’re going to be talking to them.”
Mulcair, 57, said his generation of politicians “has to take part of the blame” for voter apathy. Later, he told reporters that counteracting such lack of interest is no easy task.
“It’s a vexing problem,” Mulcair acknowledged. “Especially when you look at the statistics among young people. And when young people don’t vote, the right wing wins and democracy loses.
“It’s something that we’re going to concentrate on” when students return to school in the fall, he said.
Mulcair said his party must also try to convince older electors that their vote matters. “The decisions being made now are going to have an effect on them for the rest of their lives.”
Mulcair, who represents the Outremont riding of Montreal in the House of Commons, succeeded the late Jack Layton in March. He captured a fourth-ballot win.
A recent poll by Nanos Research showed the federal New Democrats had slightly more support from decided voters (33.6 per cent) than the ruling Tories (33.5 per cent).
But Mulcair has irked politicians and others in the West for what they’ve called divisive comments on Canada’s resource sector.
He has faced criticism from western premiers for saying Alberta’s oilsands have artificially boosted the Canadian dollar and harmed Central Canada’s manufacturing sector.
Saturday’s event was part of the Nova Scotia party’s three-day conference, which wraps up today with meetings that include a pre-election strategy session.
The Dexter government has been in power since June 2009, after defeating the Conservatives. Dexter became leader of the Nova Scotia New Democrats in 2001.
A new poll from Corporate Research Associates suggests the provincial NDP are slipping in popularity; the government and Liberals are in a statistical tie for voter support. The poll also said Dexter’s personal popularity has dropped in the last quarter.
In his convention remarks, Dexter trumpeted his government’s record during the past three years. He said election preparedness for a potential second mandate has already begun.
“Tomorrow, we delegates will be talking about the next campaign and the next platform,” he said.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE
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