Latest news with #politicalparticipation
CTV News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Should Canada follow U.K.'s lead and lower voting age to 16?
For years, some student groups have pushed for Canada to drop the voting age to 16. And with the United Kingdom last week indicating it will make the shift, calls to do the same here are being renewed. Among those making the pitch are 18-year-old West Vancouver podcasting twins Jason and Jerry Song, who recently shared their perspective with a B.C. parliamentary committee looking into this issue. 'What the U.K. has done is really set a pace for democratic reform,' Jerry Song told CTV News on Wednesday. 'So, Canada has two options right now. It can keep up, or it can explain to the youth why they've been left out again.' The Song twins say it doesn't have to be all or nothing, indicating there could be a phased approach in which 16-year-olds vote for school board trustees, but not necessarily members of the legislature or parliament. And they push back on the idea 16 is too young to vote. 'We never test adults for their political knowledge before letting them vote,' Jason Song added. 'What we do is give people the opportunity to learn by participating. Lowering the voting age actually builds political literacy.' Austria, Brazil and Argentina are among the countries that have already dropped the voting age to 16. According to UBC political scientist Stewart Prest, there can be long term benefits for a democracy when people vote early in life. 'We have substantial research that suggests when people are in, if you like, a supportive environment, where they are encouraged to take their early adulthood political experiences seriously, that can create a habit of voting that can last a lifetime,' Prest said Wednesday. CTV News asked Premier David Eby if it's something his government would consider. 'We are not currently looking at changing the voting (age),' Eby said. 'We will, obviously, watch what happens in the U.K. carefully.' But at least one local mayor is a vocal supporter of allowing younger people to vote, pointing out how much 16-year-olds in B.C. are already allowed to do. 'We trust 16-year-olds to drive cars in British Columbia,' New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone told CTV News. 'They can do most kinds of supervised work. They can pay income taxes at the age of 16. The legal age of consent is 16.' While the premier says he's not considering it, a parliamentary committee on democratic and electoral reform has been looking at this issue in recent weeks, with various stops around the province.
Al Bawaba
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
'Flames of peace': PKK fighters burn weapons in powerful farewell to war
ALBAWABA - It was a big deal when 30 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), including women and top members, ceremoniously burned their guns near the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. The event is a big step in the PKK's official move away from armed conflict and toward political participation. Two months ago, the group officially ended its four-decade violent conflict against the Turkish government. Since 1984, more than 40,000 people have died in that conflict. The PKK called the withdrawal a "historic democratic process." It happened at a spot west of Sulaymaniyah that is important because it is where one of the first Kurdish newspapers was printed. Fighters met in front of a big picture of Abdullah Öcalan, the founder of the PKK, and read a word of peace in both Kurdish and Turkish. The leaders said they hoped the move would give the Kurdish people "freedom, equality, and democracy." The fighters then threw their rifles and machine guns into a fire pit, while Öcalan's fans cried and shouted his name. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey called the disarmament a "significant step toward a terror-free Turkey" and said he hoped the peace process would pick up speed. In a speech to his party, he said, "We are entering a new phase." He stressed that the government wanted to end the process quickly and calmly. I attended the ceremony in which the #PKK burnt weapons. During the ceremony, pictures were forbidden but afterwards I interviewed four guerrillas in de group, incl co-leader Besê Hozat. Plus, pics with burned arms (1 M249, 1 sniper rifle, 1 RPG, 27 Kalasjnikovs). — Frederike Geerdink (@fgeerdink) July 11, 2025 President Nechirvan Barzani and other officials from the Kurdish Regional Government joined the event and promised their full support for ongoing peace efforts. Reports say that Turkish intelligence officers were also there, which shows that Ankara is keeping a close eye on what's going on. People think that Öcalan and the Turkish government are negotiating in a roundabout way by giving up their weapons. The jailed PKK leader recently spoke out in a video message, asking for a clear legal and political framework to complete the group's exit from armed action and start a new democratic political movement in Turkey. According to Iraqi security sources, the process could be finished by 2026. It is expected that the PKK will then become a recognized political group. 17 million Kurds in Turkey are hopeful that this move will lead to a lasting political solution after decades of deadly conflict.
