Ottawa – Now that the British government has reduced its voting age to 16 by the next general election, a Canadian senator says that the same has to be done for Canada.
Britain announced last week that it would reduce its voting age from 18 to 16, which was in a dialect to strengthen British democracy and restore confidence in politics.
Sen Marilo McFedran said the issue is her “top parliamentary priority” as she joined the Red Chamber. He said that reducing the age of voting to 16 would be good for democracy and only arguments against it are “based on stereotypes.”
McPhedran said that the decisions being made in Canada will now affect younger generations and the rights of voting for young people are “logical” and “about fairness”. He said that about 16 years old children in Canada have some form of employment and they are already taxpayers.
Canadian young politicians lead sixteen -year -old Jayden Braves and organization, want to see the age of federal voting less than 16. He told Canadian Press that Canada would have to stop living in the shadow of innovation of other countries which is moving faster than us. “
“I think we need to stop the country that wait for someone else to give a chance to move clearly,” he said. “Hopefully we will learn some lessons soon.”
Braves have asked several bills introduced in Canada over the last 20 years to reduce the voting era that eventually failed to pass.
McFedran’s most recent bill was introduced to reduce the Federal Voting Edge in late May. He said that when Parliament resumes in September, it is his priority to bring it to another reading and committee.
“What happened last time was election and an election,” he said.
Prorgation killed the bill after second reading in the Senate.
McFedran said, “But this time our push is to ensure that young voices, young leaders are heard directly by the senators, and I am confident that when this happens, the skepticists will roam.”
McFedran said that she wonders what is happening in the UK, “a difference” for many senators will be because she continues to pursue the bill.
During the debate on previous bills, some senators and MPs have pushed back against arguments in favor of reducing the age of voting, such as suggesting that this voter will increase voting. Some have also questioned the maturity of the youth to cast an informed ballot and argue what standards should be used to justify the age of voting.
The UK’s voting age last fell in 1969, when Britain became one of the first major democracy to reduce it from 21 to 18. Many other countries quickly followed the suit; Canada made its voting age 18 in 1970.
Many countries already include Austria, Brazil and Ecuador at the age of 16. Scotland and Wales 16– and 17 year olds allow children to vote in local and regional elections.
Michael Wiginon, a post-doctor in political science at Carlton University, said the UK government represents “considerable natural progress”, after a decade after scottish Parliamentary members of Scotish Parliament and a decade after permission to vote in the municipal elections.
“To indicate that kind of local example for that kind of local example that it becomes easier for both politicians and public to feel comfortable that the reform can work for the UK Parliament and cannot have negative effects,” Wiginton said.
Efforts are being made in Canada to reduce the age of voting.
In 2021, young Canadians filed an application at Ontario Superior Court of Justice to challenge the voting age, arguing that the Canada Election Act is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedom and is unconstitutional.
Toronto recently passed a resolution allowing children of 16 and 17 years to vote in the neighborhood levels on plan and policy issues. And seeing the ways to promote Democratic engagement in BC, a provincial committee is investigating the low turnout era.
Wigginton said that when he does not expect Canada to immediately adopt the 16 -year polling age, as an example, the UK will “surely push the issue into the spotlight more and increase the possibility of future being in the future.”
He said, “What I am seeing is most likely that one or more provinces will adopt the age of low turnout first and then the federal government can eventually follow the suit,” he said.
– With files from Associated Press
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 23 July 2025.
Catherine Morrison, Canadian Press