Councillor Jenni Capps Advocates Lowering Voting Age To 16 – We Disagree

Jenni Capps, candidate for Duncan City Council (photo: Cowichan Valley Citizen)
Jenni Capps, elected to Duncan City Council on 20 October 2018 (photo: Cowichan Valley Citizen)

Councillor Jenni Capps attended the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) Convention in Powell River between 12-14 April 2019.

Here is a link to the AVICC 2019 program and Resolutions [note:PDF, 96 pages]

On her Facebook page she reported the following about the AVICC Convention:

Jenni Capps spoke at AVICC in favour of Resolution 2Lowering the Voting Age In Municipal Elections To 16

“R2) Youth Voting in Local Government Elections [Motion proposed by the City of Victoria]

WHEREAS youth have a strong interest in the future of local communities;

AND WHEREAS empowering young people to participate in democratic processes fosters ongoing and
active civic participation:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province of British Columbia revise the voting age for local
government elections to 16 years of age.

Resolutions Committee recommendation: Not Endorse”

Our Comments: We do not support lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 in Municipal elections.

Resolution 1 at Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) Convention in Powell River was a City of Victoria Resolution calling for allowing Permanent Residents to vote in B.C. Municipal Elections.

We believe Councillor Jenni Capps supports this too although she does not directly say so on her Facebook page.

Our Comments: We believe voting is a right of Citizenship and we do not support extending voting rights to Permanent Residents. 

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