Democracy's Future*

If nothing else, the past five years have shown Canadians how badly broken our democracy is. Until and unless we get some radical electoral and democratic change, it's going to be up to citizens to protect what's left of that creaky old institution.

Luckily, we're a resourceful lot. When Harper prorogued Parliament for the second time, we'd had enough. Unfortunately, over 200,000 of us on Facebook and thousands in the streets didn't seem to impress the politicians much.

But that was just the beginning. More non-partisan or multi-partisan grassroots groups sprang up: Catch 22 Harper Conservatives, Unseat Harper, and a more recent group, LeadNow.

Today I went looking for more, specifically for groups aiming at young voters. Found two.

Apathy Is Boring.

Revolutionizing democracy through art & technology.

Apathy is Boring is a national non-partisan project. Our mission is to use art & technology to educate youth about democracy.

Apathy is Boring aims to meet the following Youth in Democracy Goals:

Increase youth voting rates.
Increase youth engagement in their communities.
Build a sustainable dialogue between youth and elected officials.

It has a dandy facts page with definitions and other helpful info.

OurVote is also targetting youth.

OurVote.ca's goal is to mobilize young Canadians to actively engage and participate in the now declared 2011 Elections for the governance of Canada!

Young Canadians have a decisive voice and interest in determining the direction of Canada and necessary leadership that takes into account our needs & concerns!

Why does does getting youth involved matter?

Because voter turn-out is declining and there's that old saw: 'Low voter turn-out favours the conservative parties'.

Hey, look at this (from October last year).

How Parliament would look if only youth voted .

Canada’s youth would elect a Liberal minority government, with a substantial increase in representation for the New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, and Greens, according to projections based on recent polls of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24. The Conservative Party would be severely reduced, virtually wiped out east of Manitoba.

Want to unseat Stephen Harper? Encourage the kids to vote.

(*Cross-posted at Voices for Democracy, Unseat Harper's blog. Good bloggers there. Check it out.)