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Council of Canadians launches get out the youth vote campaign in Winnipeg today




  Council of Canadians Get Out the Youth Vote campaigner Brigette DePape.

The Council of Canadians is launching its ‘get out the youth vote’ campaign in Winnipeg today.

In an op-ed published in the Winnipeg Free Press, Council of Canadians Get Out the Youth Vote campaigner Brigette DePape writes, “After four years under the current government, I now want to do everything in my power to see a government that does reflect our values. …About 1.8 million eligible youth didn’t vote in 2011. In contrast, the Conservatives took the majority government by only 6,201 votes across 308 ridings. A wave of young voters in 2015 stands to be the election game-changer nobody saw coming.”

And she argues, “I definitely understand the cynicism around voting, and I share a lot of it. In my perspective, voting alone is not the solution to a failing democracy, but it is one critical step within our means in the next few months to see some change we want.”

DePape also notes, “I’m excited to be in Winnipeg, my hometown, today on the first stop of our 2015 GameChangers tour to get out the youth vote. This is part of our democracy campaign at the Council of Canadians. With the first part of our campaign, we aim to inspire and educate, to build our base of youth leaders and collect vote pledges, and with the second part closer to the election, we aim to mobilize our base to vote. After Winnipeg, we’ll be heading to the University of Regina, Simon Fraser University, Nippissing University, Ryerson and others.”

In another article, the Winnipeg Free Press says, “Join perspectives and politics editor Shannon Sampert and columnist Jen Zoratti at the Free Press News Café on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. while they interview Brigette DePape. …She is now working to get youth interested in voting as the Get Out the Youth Vote campaigner with the Council of Canadians. We’ll be asking Brigette about her plans and her new goals and livestreaming the interview Wednesday beginning at 10:30 a.m.”

To read Brigette’s full op-ed, please click here. If you are a young person, click here to sign our online “I will vote” pledge. To help support our get out the vote campaign with a donation, please click here. For more on our democracy campaign, click here.