B.C. Filmmaker Hopes Documentary Will Inspire Young Canadians to Vote

[nucklehead]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/bc-filmmaker-hopes-documentary-will-inspire-young-canadians-to-vote/ar-AAezOng?ocid=spartandhp

It wasn’t until Kyle McCachen made a documentary film about why young people don’t vote that he decided to start voting himself.

Now, the 29-year-old is hoping his recently released documentary, titled The Drop: Why Young People Don’t Vote, will inspire other young people to engage in the democratic process.

The local film-school grad said the documentary was born from the simple observation that, while many young people express a desire for change, few tend to engage in the process designed to effect that change.

It’s a reality supported by stats. In the last federal election only about 39 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 cast a ballot, compared with the 75 per cent of Canadians aged 65 to 74 who did.

The search for answers led McCachen and his team across Canada and the U.S. Along the way, they interviewed politicians, stumbled upon stories that inspired hope, and encountered many youngpeople who are in fact trying to engage in the political process.

“Right off the bat, people always said there was a bit of a dissatisfaction with the political system or that they didn’t think they had enough information to vote accurately,” said McCachen, the film’s director and co-producer. “But that always seemed to be just the first position. And once we pushed further,people always seemed to have so much more to say.”

McCachen said he’s emerged from the journey with a profound sense of optimism and a belief that young people want to engage.

“The take-away for me was that voting isn’t something that is a single action — that it’s part of a process,” he said. “And if young people are around them, they will find there are others, in their communities, who are doing things … I’m so optimistic that we can do better.”

The Drop: Why Young Don’t Vote, premièred on Sept. 16 at Simon Fraser University’s Woodward’s Theatre. It will broadcast on TVO (tvo.org) on Oct. 5 and on CPAC on Oct. 11.

[inane]

Elections bc just released info about referendum vote. As normal, young people didn't vote as much as older people.

[Mr. Ambien]

It happens everywhere. There's nothing you can do to make younger people care. It comes with experience and maturity.

I couldn't vote in Canada until I came back (and was considered a resident in Ontario), but in the US I've voted since I turned 18 (in the 2000 election).

[etsen3]

I think a lot of young people want to vote but are simply unhappy with all the options.

[Mr. Ambien]

I think a lot of young people want to vote but are simply unhappy with all the options.

I disagree. They know there are plenty of options, they just don't care.

To slightly expand on that, what I mean is, don't care enough to register and go vote. Clearly they care when they piss and moan about politics all the time, however, don't care to actually do something about it. As I said before, comes with experience and maturity.

[Offensive Threat]

A lot of kids think their votes dont matter. Watch the news the day before and they are already predicting the outcome to within a few points. Why bother when its a foregone conclusion.

Plus they feel that nothing really changes regardless of who is in power anyways. Anybody who is going to really shake things up never has a hope in hell of winning.

[baumerman77]

A large part of the "youth don't care" narrative is true and likely systematic. When people start working career type jobs, pay income taxes, buy a house (pay property taxes), start a family, become part of a local community, invest in retirement, etc. the role of the government becomes more salient in their lives and thus they are more likely to participate in politics and vote. Often when you hear younger people claim that they don't like any of the political parties and would rather not participate in the system, this is just code for "I feel the government isn't salient in my current day-to-day life and therefore I am not going to prioritize politics at this point in time".

It's not like this generation is somehow different than generations passed in this regard. Moreover, there should be the conclusion that because they are not voting now they never will. Ever since we started tracking voting demographics there has been a positive relationship between voting and age.

[Hugor Hill]

It happens everywhere. There's nothing you can do to make younger people care. It comes with experience and maturity.

I couldn't vote in Canada until I came back (and was considered a resident in Ontario), but in the US I've voted since I turned 18 (in the 2000 election).

Reads: "I have been voting since I was18 Im the coolest person ever!!"

[Hugor Hill]

Look, youths don't vote because most candidates are middle age to old people, who aren't allowed to swear, party, drink more than a glass of wine, smoke pot and have extra-marital sex. Voting for them is like conforming with their parents, which is utterly uncool. So uncool only Mr. Ambien can do such a thing.

If political candidates are rock stars, more young people would vote. But rock stars can't be politicians because rock stars are cool and politicians are not.

[nucklehead]

Thanks for clearing that up.

For any young people on the fence about voting, having political questions about things you don't understand and fearless enough to be judged uncool, check out the video.

​

[Mr. Ambien]

Thanks for clearing that up.

For any young people on the fence about voting, having political questions about things you don't understand and fearless enough to be judged uncool, check out the video.

​

Agreed. It's not like you even have to tell people you voted either. One can be responsible and go vote while telling their angsty hipster friends they didn't vote.

[inane]

A large part of the "youth don't care" narrative is true and likely systematic. When people start working career type jobs, pay income taxes, buy a house (pay property taxes), start a family, become part of a local community, invest in retirement, etc. the role of the government becomes more salient in their lives and thus they are more likely to participate in politics and vote. Often when you hear younger people claim that they don't like any of the political parties and would rather not participate in the system, this is just code for "I feel the government isn't salient in my current day-to-day life and therefore I am not going to prioritize politics at this point in time".

It's not like this generation is somehow different than generations passed in this regard. Moreover, there should be the conclusion that because they are not voting now they never will. Ever since we started tracking voting demographics there has been a positive relationship between voting and age.

It's a self fulfilling thing too. Young people, on average vote less so those who get elected cater to the older voters so then government remains distant and unimportant to younger people. The whole notion of prioritizing politics is just lazy though. It takes 10 minutes to vote. You could learn about parties sitting on the crapper. Don't be lazy.

[Tangelos]

A lot of kids think their votes dont matter. Watch the news the day before and they are already predicting the outcome to within a few points. Why bother when its a foregone conclusion.

Plus they feel that nothing really changes regardless of who is in power anyways. Anybody who is going to really shake things up never has a hope in hell of winning.

Exactly it's a bit of a prisoners dilemma

[Hobble]

I'm a young adult and I vote.

But I think one of the draw backs of our voting system is the ridings.

I live in a predominantly Conservative riding, so my vote for Liberal/NDP doesn't really make a difference.

[elvis15]

The issues that are more important to young people never really get addressed. It's more about issues important to older people, so why would that convince younger voters to get involved (and why the other issues should be important to them)?

[CanuckGAME]

Im 26, never voted.

Im voting Harper this time around. Come at me bros.

[MattJVD]

Im 26, never voted.

Im voting Harper this time around. Come at me bros.

Do you live in Calgary; Southwest?

If not, you can't actually vote for Harper.

[Mr. Ambien]

Donald Trump for PM.

[Standing_Tall#37]

The youth is smarter. They've caught on that our elections are rigged. There's 2 things that may actually spark interest but it will never happen. 1) if everybody ran as independents (Chuck Cadman was a great example of an independent who made a difference) 2) abolish compounding interest on loans in this country(there was never a law passed allowing this, so it proves to me that our politicians are useless in this system and the puppet masters pull their strings to make them dance).

Democracy is an illusion folks, roll the dice on whoever you want, but take notice that nothing really changes and the people don't get a say.

[Baka]

I am not in Canada but never voted and never will. It is pointless in democracy.

It moves slow and doesn't matter who is seated at any position as they will have to slowly bend to the majorities demands anyway to keep their spot.