North Vancouver City asking for voting age to be lowered at UBCM

I am a fan of any move to lower the voting age.   I can not see any reason why we have an age restriction on voting when there are no other restrictions.   You do not have to be literate to vote, you do not have to be mentally competent, you can be in prison - none of those stop people from voting.   If you are a well informed 16  year old you are banned from voting.


Let the youth vote.


B117 REDUCE VOTING AGE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS North Vancouver City
WHEREAS it is desirable to increase the level of interest and participation in local government by young people in the community:


THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government reduce the voting age to 17 years of age for local government and school board elections.
NOT PRESENTED TO THE LOWER MAINLAND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION


UBCM RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: Not Endorse
UBCM RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE COMMENTS:
The Resolutions Committee notes that the UBCM membership considered but did not endorse resolution 2006-B75, which called on the provincial government to decrease the civic election voting age to 16. The resolution referenced “a significant level of voter apathy [...] at all levels of Canadian elections” and suggested that “earlier voting behaviour might increase the electorate’s lifetime involvement and interest in our democratic process”.
It should be noted that lowering the local government voting age to 17 would create inconsistency in relation to the current provincial and federal minimum voting age, which is 18 years.