Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach’s private members bill to lower the voting age has been defeated in the house of commons.
It was defeated on September 28 with a 77 to 246 vote with the majority not in favour being the Conservatives and the majority of Liberals.
The Bloc Quebecois, Greens and twenty Liberal MP’s supported the bill which was originally tabled in May.
According to Bachrach, he is proud of the work and raising the idea of allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to vote.
He said one thing that he found stark was that the Liberal government consulted youth across Canada about what their priorities were which included being allowed to vote.
“For the government to refuse to even send the bill to committee to be studied really shows that these engagement processes that they invite youth to participate in aren’t a serious effort to give them the ability to change things,” Bachrach said.
He also said that he believes lowering the voting age will increase participation in politics with youth and that it will increase the voter turnout.
“The issues that we’re talking about in the house of commons right now have a tremendous bearing on the lives of young people. I really believe they deserve a seat at the table and deserve to participate in our election,” Bachrach said.
He also said that the arguments against the bill are flimsy.
Bachrach added that he is hopeful that the momentum for the project continues and that this bill will eventually pass.