Peter Bevan-Baker’s bill was called for second reading Tuesday evening in the P.E.I. legislature.
He believes lowering the voting age could inspire more young Islanders to get involved in politics and remain engaged throughout their lives.
“The more Islanders that we can get excited about politics and show to them that politics matters, that the decisions that are made here will affect their lives, the better,” Bevan-Baker said.
He argues some Islanders could be 22 years old before they ever get to vote in a provincial election, based on the four-year election cycle.
“Studies show that if people do not vote by the time they’re 20, there’s a precipitous decline in their involvement in politics, so by lowering the voting age to 16… I just think that early engagement, to incite some sort of sense of responsibility of the importance of politics is a very useful thing for our democracy.”
But it seems the sole Green party member in the P.E.I. legislature does not have a lot of support for his bill, as evidenced by the debate Tuesday evening.
Opposition Leader Jamie Fox says the PC caucus will allow a free vote on the bill, but said he will not personally support it.
Liberal MLA and government house leader Richard Brown said there will soon be more discussion in P.E.I. on overall electoral reform and suggested questions about changing the voting age should be part of those discussions.
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Brown also remarked that once the new PC leader is chosen there will be a “leaders discussion between all parties on the next step,” including what the second option will be in the upcoming referendum on electoral reform, to be held in conjunction with the next election in P.E.I.
So far, no formal plans have been released about how the province will run this second vote on electoral reform or how the second option on the ballot will be chosen.
“I believe, and I think my colleagues do, we are going to present a package to electors in the next election and all of this should be put together in one package, so we will not be supporting this, because we believe in a bigger package in the next election,” Brown said of the voting age proposal.
Not everyone is against the idea.
Last year, PC MLA Sidney MacEwen also said he would like to see the voting age lowered to 16, as was done in the plebiscite on electoral reform held last year in P.E.I.
He said he was impressed with how engaged Island teenagers were in politics when talking to them at the doorsteps during the 2015 election.
This age range saw a 32.12 per cent voter turnout in the plebiscite.
Bevan-Baker says he accepts his bill likely will not pass but remains hopeful it will remain part of the continuing discussions on electoral reform.
