House Votes Against Bill to Lower Federal Voting Age to 16

Centre Block's Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in a file photo. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

The House of Commons has voted against a bill to lower the federal voting age from 18 to 16.

Sponsored by NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, Bill C-210, titled “An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act,” and was voted upon Wednesday for whether it should proceed to a third reading.

MPs voted 245–77 against the bill on Sept. 28, with the Bloc Quebecois, NDP, and Green Party in favour, and the Conservatives and the majority of Liberals opposed.  Twenty Liberal MPs voted in favour of the bill.

“I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed,” Bachrach said on PrimeTime Politics following the bill’s defeat. “We’ve put a lot of work into this. And I think this is an idea that would really make our country stronger.”

Prior to the vote, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu told reporters she believes in “informed voting” and thinks the voting age should remain at 18.

“I think the rest of the ages that you can join the military, that you can drink alcohol, for example, are older and so I think we should stay consistent with that,” she said.

Gladu also said that the current voting age doesn’t necessarily prevent Canadians below 18 from participating in politics.

“I’ve certainly seen young people very active in my own campaigns,” she said. “I encourage that. But in my household, until my kids started paying the bills, then they didn’t get a say.”

Bachrach published an article in the Toronto Star on Sept. 27 arguing that 16- and 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote.

Bachrach said that “issues like housing affordability and the worsening climate emergency have a profound, disproportionate impact on young people,” so they “deserve a voice.”

Speaking to PrimeTime Politics, Bachrach said that “a lot of countries around the world” have begun allowing citizens 16 and older to vote and, as a result, have seen increased “youth engagement” and “voter turnout.”

Asked whether Canadians aged 16 and 17 are responsible enough to vote, Bachrach said that many opposed to a younger voting age hold “prejudicial stereotypes of young people that don’t necessarily bear out in reality.”

“The reality is that young people, 16- and 17-year-olds, haven’t been asked to pay attention to politics or to elections,” he continued. “And if they’re given that agency, if they’re given that opportunity, they’re going to tune in.”

Speaking to reporters before the bill was defeated Wednesday, Conservative MP Randy Hoback said, “You can’t buy beer at 16, so why should you vote at 16?”

“That would be the quick answer,” he said.