The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) - What Teens Care About in this Ontario Election

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

With Premier Doug Ford calling a quick and early election in Ontario, youth across the province are not shying away from making sure their voices are heard. Amidst an affordability crisis and threats from Trump, Generation Z tells us why it is so important to be politically engaged – even if some aren't old enough to vote. The Agenda welcomes teens from across the province to discuss what issues they are paying attention to this Ontario election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Doug Ford calling a snap election in Ontario, youth across the province are not shying away from making their voices heard. Amidst an affordability crisis and threats from Donald Trump, members of Gen Z, or Zed, are here to explain why it's important to be politically engaged, even if some of them aren't even old enough to vote. Joining us now for more, we welcome in Kitchener, Ontario, Adam Foley. He's 16 years old with us here in studio Sarah Mora. She's 17 years old from Richmond Hill. Leah Chang is 17 years old from Toronto and Jayden Braves is 16 years old also from the provincial capital. And it's great to have you three here in our studio. Adam, glad you are there on the line for us from Kitchener.

Leah, I'm gonna put you to work first here. Why do you think people should care about this provincial election, particularly if they're not even old enough to vote? Well, I really think that young people, even if they're not old enough to vote, are really facing the problems and the issues that are coming with the policies that

are at our provincial level and even at our federal level. And I think even if they can't physically go and vote, I think that advocating for the issues that we really care about, things like education, affordability, employment, housing, are really essential to having our voices heard and making sure that we're actually seeing the effects of these policies. Adam, what would you add to that in terms of why young people,

even if you can't vote, as you cannot, should still be engaged? I'd say, even if you can't vote, as you cannot, should still be engaged? I'd say that even though we can't vote, that doesn't mean we're immune to the ratifications of the decisions made by our politicians. Just because we can't vote doesn't mean we should be ignoring what's happening in our provincial and government policies. Sarah, what would you add to that?

I think just to echo what was already said, I mean, young people are key stakeholders in all these issues. And not to mention that the policies that are affecting the current society we live in are going to trickle along to the society that we then inherit once we are old enough to vote and are involved in these processes. So it's essential that we care, it's

essential that we're involved, and it is essential that politicians care about what we have to say about these issues. Just before I ask you a question, you know I get to wear a t-shirt on this show two days a week during the writ period and I notice you wear a t-shirt on this show two days a week during the RIT period and I notice you have a t-shirt on today. What do you think? Does that need any explanation? I don't think it does actually. So you don't like the idea of Canada as a 51st state, you prefer the example of America as the 11th province. Is that it? Well, I mean Steve, it's just so ludicrous. Ludicrousness must have ludicrousness met with it.

And so, you know, we got shirts for everyone, we'll just do, but I'm hoping you'll take this on too. I will definitely wear this on the On Poly podcast. You need to. Before the RIT period is over. I think that's great. Isn't that phenomenal? Where'd you get these?

I printed them. You did? I printed them just downtown. Merch made, oh, it's just the best store across from Harbord Collegiate. Go get your stuff printed there. But 24 hours ago, I was like, this is a great addition we need to have this year.

OK. Now that we've got the wardrobe issue all figured out here, what do you think about the fact that we're having a snap election in the province of Ontario? First winter election in 44 years, and 17 months before we were scheduled to. Well, it's not great for canvassing, for one. For two, I look around at my peers,

and I see a generation that's struggling and scared for the things that we're going to have to inherit. Those are things like a $30 million investment to break free of the climate action we've already invested, a $2 billion deficit in our education, which is limiting the resources and faculty we have in our schools. And that's like a hundred and eighty nine million dollars of Ontarian taxpayers money, our money, which we're gonna have to pay back through taxes in the coming years in order to make sure

Ontarians can get two hundred dollars to nearly buy a vote for the next election. There's a reason there every four years in Ontario for our province. There's a reason we have elections. And they're not to be cut short in order to keep our greed. Who here, I guess probably you too, right? If the election were held in June of 2026, when the law provided for it, would you be 18 by then?

Yes. You would be. So you would have been able to vote. Are you ticked off? You can't vote now because of the early call? I mean, definitely. I mean, I've even applied to be a poll worker on election day so that I can kind of live vicariously

through those who are actually voting. But I think it's really disappointing for young people, especially those of us that are in high school, university, working jobs. We're actually facing the same issues that many people who are able to vote are facing. And it's just quite disappointing that we're not able to voice our issues and our perspectives in this election.

Sarah, same with you, you would have been 18 by next June? Yep. I'm turning 18 this May. And I totally agree. I also applied to be a poll worker. You two are desperately nerdy, aren't you? Yeah, we are. But yeah, I totally agree.

I mean, there's a feeling of helplessness. I think that's definitely something that I've been feeling and something that people around me and my peers have been feeling. When you see all that's going on and the fact that we're in a crisis and you can't do anything about it, and it's very hard to cope with that fact, so you try to get involved as much as you can, but when you see that you've been kind of, you know, disenfranchised as you said.

Disenfranchised? Is that the word? Yeah, from a process that you would have initially been involved in to begin with, it's very frustrating, yes. Let me get Adam on that. Adam, do you think, now I'm not sure, you would not be 18 before June of 26, right? I would be, yes. Oh, you would be. So you are, do you feel disenfranchised by the early call? Frustrated, yes.

I don't think disenfranchised is the correct term. I feel like there's no reason he would have called an early election and it's frustrating to see this happening. But again, I don't think it's a move done out of spite or bad intentions, simply trying to gain some popularity by playing the fear of Trump off of people. Hmm. Adam, you're far too reasonable. Disenfranchised is a big angrier word. You're being far too reasonable in the way you describe things here. That's your personality. That's okay. That's okay. What about you? You would not be old enough, right, to vote?

No. Not for long, no. I think I'm plenty involved. I mean, we're leading a national organization that Its job is to bring young people in democracy. I don't think I could be more involved. What's the group called? Young Politicians of Canada. Thank you for letting me plug it here. Become a member, it's free.

I think the point is we're not included in the dividends of these decisions. So whether we claim, or rather politicians, whether they're claiming we're going to be affected by them, we're not seeing the actions manifest that. I think it's very easy for us to take into account what somebody's gonna say on a camera and say, oh, that's gonna be the reality,

that's what's gonna be implemented, but then they're not implemented. And then I think we have to take a look around and say, okay, well, who's actually gonna lead that change for us? I've been active in various parties and various candidates that I think are ready to take on that change and unfortunately we see some of them and then at the same time sometimes they're limited. Well having so many young people on this program right now gives us a good opportunity to find out what you guys care about and to see whether it's

any different from what people my age care about. So Adam, why don't you start us off. You are 16 years old. You live in Kitchener. What do you care about in this campaign? I'd say in my somewhat biased opinion, education would be the number one priority to me as I'm still in high school hoping to go on into university, seeing budget cuts and cuts to funding is very concerning for me. Are you hearing things?

I'm sorry, are you hearing things about either the high school education system or the post-secondary system from any of the parties right now that interest you? In general, no, which is unfortunate. I hope there had been some push to revert some of Doug Ford's changes. I don't see any party pushing that issue. Revert the changes. What changes are you talking about? General budget cuts to schools that he had proposed early in his first term.

Gotcha. Okay. Leah, how about you? What would you like to see that may or may not be discussed in the campaign so far? I would definitely agree when it comes to education, even on the secondary and post-secondary level. Just speaking anecdotally here, I mean, the majority of my classes are upwards of 900, 1,000 people.

And I just question. We should say, even though you're 17, you're in university already. Yes, I am. You have a thousand kids in classes? I do, I do. And I just kind of question whether that is the best learning environment for students. I mean, introductory classes are meant to give you a base for what you want to go ahead

and study in or even make change in the world. And I just don't really think it's conducive to students who truly want to learn. And even if we look at things like OSAP or employment, I don't think that young people are really in a position to thrive in this current climate. You're at U of T? I am. Where do you have a class that can seat a thousand people at U of T? Well, actually, most of my intro classes are in Convocation Hall,

which is where the graduations are held. It's not made to be a classroom, right? There's no desks, it's just chairs one next to another, and I don't think it's really conducive to learning or thriving. What do you want to hear? So I completely agree with everything that Leah said, and even just speaking on things such as OSAP, I'm going to university next year,

and I will most likely being applying be applying to OSAP right and this is the student assistance program so you either want a grant or a bursary or a loan or something yes I'm currently there are interests on those loans and that's something that Bonnie Cronby's party is interested in getting rid of they want to get rid of loans sorry they want to get rid of the interest on these loans and make the threshold for repayment higher to I believe $50,000 and these are positive changes but at the same time we have to question why was there interest on these

educational loans in the first place and just generally speaking I mean the NDP wants to invest eight hundred and830 million into school repairs, and it's supposed to, I believe the goal is to fix all of the problems within schools in Ontario by 2030. These are all very important. I mean, education is the starting point. It is how we equip ourselves to succeed in life and to get a job and to function in our society. I think that it's something that more of the party should be focusing on in depth.

Gotcha. Jaden, what are you looking at? I think we ought to look at the full picture. I think we have to look at youth unemployment rates. We have to look at the cost of tuition. We have to look at the insecurity in housing amongst young people, which is horrifying and getting worse by the minute. And then we have to say, is this the Ontario that We have to look at the insecurity in housing amongst young people, which is horrifying and getting worse by the minute.

And then we have to say, is this the Ontario that we want to grow up in and actually have? Is this an Ontario that we're proud to live in? Unfortunately, some of it's incumbent upon the federal government when we look at the limited infrastructure that we have to support some of the immigration and job changes that we were creating. We haven't implemented C56, which is the Sustainable Jobs Act, nearly as much as we should have. We haven't taken action on Youth Climate Corp,

which would have created thousands and thousands of jobs for young people in green sectors and innovating. So we're left with 17.8% youth unemployment rates. And at the same time, we have $9,400 average tuitions in university, which is the largest out of any province in Canada. At the same time, 17 have $9,400 average tuitions in university, which is the largest out of any province in Canada. At the same time, 17% of young people in this province are insecure about having a roof over their heads. And I'm not saying, you know, they, you know, don't know how they feel about it.

I'm saying they have a risk of not actually having a roof over their heads. This is not an Ontario that young people deserve to have to grow up in. And it's actually up to us to change it. Adam, you're in high school now? I am, yes. Do you, as you take a look around your school or around your class, do you see evidence of a lack of investment in the public school system? I don't personally use public schools.

Oh, okay. Tell us about what kind of education you're getting. I'm going to a French Catholic school currently and I have seen similar issues there. Yeah. We had planned renovations that we've had to cancel. We have had to add more portables. We've had classes exceeding 36 students. It's generally not a wonderful learning environment.

Right. The French Catholic system would still be a publicly funded system though, so you are definitely experiencing, I guess, what you would consider to be the lack of adequate investment in the publicly funded school system of this province, fair to say? That is true, yes. That is true, okay. How about you? You're, you're, are you in first year university right now? I am. Okay, so you just got out of high school. Did you see evidence of a school system that could use a little more money? I think definitely, especially when it comes to learners who have needs that go beyond what a typical teacher can offer. I saw so many students who they simply didn't thrive in the environment that was being provided

and I don't really think that there's enough support for young people with disabilities and people with disabilities in general. And something positive that I've actually seen is that I believe that the majority of the parties in this election are campaigning on doubling disability support, which is important. Well, not the progressive conservatives, but the other ones are. Yes, that's right. I also wanted to add on to what Jayden said. I believe the only party that has mentioned youth employment is the liberals.

They've proposed tax credits for businesses who give internships and paid internships to young people. I believe it'll create 40,000 jobs for young people. But I really don't think that it's a conversation that's being had enough, right? The majority of the parties aren't talking about it. And what I've seen a rise of lately is unpaid internships and unpaid jobs, where young people are essentially being asked to work for free just to get quote-unquote job experience and you

know these people are at the top of their schools their universities and they're not even being paid minimum wage for what they're doing. You know I don't know I don't know if we have any conservatives here at our literal and figurative table online but you know the Conservative Party federally has seen a pretty significant uptick in support, particularly from young people. And I wonder, do you hear about that, Jayden? Are you hearing from your colleagues and friends

and so on that we like what conservatives have to say nowadays? I am hearing that, Steve. And I think it's really interesting. Can I call it a phenomenon? Maybe. It's rare that you have a large group of young people across a country believing that a conservative party is

the way to go. That's generally rare amongst young people. We are supposed to be the progressive ones, and then older generations typically bogging us down a little bit. And there's that dichotomy. But right now, it's changed. And it's shifted predominantly because there's promises around

affordable housing and affordable economy where we can take our first step into markets and succeed as adults that we don't really feel that we're getting right now. And I use the word feel because, you know, objectively it's really hard to say if we do have those opportunities and compared to a generation prior. But I think what we can look at is this absolute pessimism that we're feeling in society in Canada, whether that's to blame the government, whether that's to blame social media and us getting 40% of our news

from TikTok, which is driving us against each other and algorithms that are devastating us so much to be channeled and fueled by hate, which Pierre Poliev is dedicated to proliferating all over social medias while paying other organizations to do the same and to make sure those messages are being spewed, which are radicalizing young Canadians. Those are the concerns that I have and that's what I think is driving this trend. But I also notice it's not young people.

I speak to a number of adults your age-ish, and they seem to tell me they're just as radicalized, maybe they say it a little bit differently, but they're describing their news being given to them in the same formats, driving the same reactions, which is this pure hatred against the system that they think is totally broken and doesn't work. And I ask myself, first of all, a lot of the facts are wrong. Second of all, is that actually what's happening, or is this a dogma or rhetoric that's being fueled in order to drive Canadians against each other and try to support an organization or an individual

that doesn't actually have what's best? OK, I'm just inferring from that answer that you probably are not a conservative supporter. Just a wild hunch. Good question. I like policy. I don't like talking about strict party lines. I think we do that a lot in the United States and Canada does not do that.

Canadian values are looking out for each other and liking policies and not people and parties. Okay, Sarah, how much conversation goes on among your peer group comparing and contrasting what the different parties have on offer? I think that my peer group would be particularly inclined towards politics. So I can't say that it's an accurate show of most young people. I do think that right now, a lot of young people are very interested in what is going on. They want to see a party that is going to deliver them change and kind of building off of what Jaden said.

This is our future that we are looking at right now. And when you are seeing on a federal level such an unpopular government at the moment, a lot of people will look towards a different government, a change, as a means of solving their problems. Regardless of if we believe that they're going to solve our problems, it's a way of comforting ourselves, I think, because there are so many different problems right now. Youth unemployment, as Jayden mentioned earlier, there's the mental health crisis. There's so many problems within our educational system. There are so many problems regarding the climate

and health care. We do not want to inherit a world that is on fire. So we are looking for change and some kind of hope. And usually, looking towards a different party, a different leader, gives us the illusion that there will be that positive change to bring us a future that we deserve. But I do think that we need to look more closely at what

these people are actually suggesting and look closely at what that will mean, rather than just, oh, this is us against them. It's one side of the spectrum or the other. You need to work together to find proper solutions to an ongoing crisis. I get you. Let's get Adam in on this as well.

Adam, when you're talking with your peer group, do you do much comparing and contrasting among the different parties and what they have on offer? As of recently, yes. We've been, in the long run, no. But seeing as we're staring down the barrel of many different geopolitical things, we're potentially losing our most reliable ally. There's been definitely a lot of talk and many different perspectives about who would handle that and of course the many other issues we've brought up so far. Who would

handle the best, who we think shouldn't be in charge. A lot of interesting discussion. Adam, I know when I talk to my peer group a lot of us are pretty angry at the United States right now or at the president in particular. How about in your age group? That is absolutely the consensus. Yeah, there's, when I said there's lots of opinions that's the exception. No one's agreeing with Trump and the states on that particular issue. Got it. Leah, how about in your in your peer group? Much discussion about Trump tariffs, relationships with the states right now?

Well, Steve, I think maybe the only positive thing that's coming from these tariffs is I'm seeing really a renewed sense of unity amongst Canadians, among young people. And people are really crossing partisan lines and saying, look, we disagree on certain things. We disagree on policies, maybe even on fundamental ideology. But we agree that what's happening right now is not going to happen.

And we think that what the states is doing is not fair. And we need to protect Canada. And I think that we really have a unique opportunity to maybe capitalize on this unity and say why can't we go forward this way? Why can't we speak across partisan lines and work together to actually fix the issues that Canadians are facing? Now you know of course Doug Ford is running in this early election campaign because he says he needs a fresh four-year term to match Trump's four-year term so that he can represent Ontario well.

What are you laughing for already? He's in Washington. He's actually in Washington this week doing all of that. So how's that sitting with you? I mean, I think I would agree with the majority of Ontarians in saying this election is largely unnecessary, right? Doug Ford has a majority in our legislature, and we really think that his existing mandate is enough to fight these tariffs.

And I think young people are really talking about, it's a really interesting time for him to be calling an election. I mean, the government, the Ontario government, has invested over $100 million, even just in the last fiscal year, more than any year before, in advertising. And I think many young people, what

I'm hearing amongst my friends and my peer groups is, couldn't all of that energy, the people, the money be invested into young Ontarians and Ontarians in general? Jayden, do you see increased patriotism or fervour because of what Donald Trump is trying to do to Canada? Patriotism, at some what. I think some of the statistics are quite shocking. I mean, again, we're not the 51st state. We will never be the 51st state. We will never be. It sounds just as crazy as the United States being the 11th province.

So I can be a little bit more frank. When we were down in DC, we were speaking to the current, the prior admin with President Biden, we were speaking to Trump's incoming team, we were at the White House, we're talking to NATO, but I think the most important aspect there is we heard exactly what it'll take to stop these threats. We need to reach our 2% NATO GDP spent. We need to make sure we're imposing tariffs on shared competition.

Those are competitions like China, like Russia, and we're implementing the same tariffs as the United States is interested in. And we're working with the United States. We need to be able to engage more diplomatically with the US and actually have meaningful discussions, even if it's with people we disagree with, to make sure we can have takeaways that benefit this country and not work against them. Don't add counter tariffs. It's not going to work. Well, we'll see. But I guess, Sarah, I'd follow up with you by asking, do you think all of this foofara with Donald Trump has, I mean, do you see signs that it's increased patriotism or political engagement among your age group?

I definitely think that when you see the president of one of the greatest powers in the world at the moment saying that he is going to annex your country and make Canada the 51st state, and then threatening us with all of these tariffs and everything like that. It really makes you question what kind of respect he has for us. And when you hear something so jarring

coming from such a great power like the US, I think it does bring unity, like Leah said. And I think it should, because I think for a long time there's a lot of division amongst Canadians politically, and I also think that we need to kind of reassemble our national identity and our, like what we stand for. I do think that it has caused a lot more engagement amongst youth like I said when you hear something like that

you know that you need to pay attention it's not something that you can take lightheartedly especially in a time like this. Jaden has any single one of your friends said well maybe we ought to look, well, maybe we ought to look at this. Yes. Maybe we ought to look at being the 51st state. Absolutely. You have had friends say that. I am hearing this.

This is why I'm concerned. And this is why I come back to it is the most pointless, silly trade war, if you want to call it a trade war, we've ever seen. It is ridiculous. It is unnecessary. It is wasting our time and our energy and our thoughts. The world is burning up into a crisp.

We're going to have a really bad wildfire season. It is unnecessary. It is wasting our time and our energy and our thoughts. The world is burning up into a crisp. We're going to have a really bad wildfire season. We're going to have a really bad continual war against the actual countries like Ukraine and Russia or what's going on in the Middle East that we're not engaging with nearly as much as we should. And right now we're talking about tariffs between Canada and the United States. What are we, children? I mean, we are.

But is Trump and Trudeau ridiculous? Well, in fairness to Trudeau, he didn't start this. Adam, how about you? Are you hearing any of your friends saying, hmm, 51st state? Maybe we should look at that. Not really, in all honesty. There's, again, I've seen a lot of national unity, like, as has been stated. No one much seems to think that we are the 51st state. There's the idea that why should we be the 51st state? We've been our own independent, fully fledged country for 150 years or 42, if you count it by when we got our constitution.

42 if you count it by when we got our constitution. But still, the point stands that we're practically indistinguishable from the United States in many ways. OK. We've got a few minutes left here, and we've got to talk about the elephant of the room, OK, kids? Here we go. You guys don't vote. Uh-oh.

The politicians don't listen to you because you don't vote. You don't vote in numbers commensurate with your percentage of the population. Why not? I think that there are many reasons. But I think the two main reasons are, firstly, I don't think young people have the proper resources to understand, first of all, who to vote for,

how to approach policy. And I feel like politics seems so daunting, so, you know... You guys are smart. You know how to go to websites and read about the policies that all the parties have on offer. It's the easiest thing in the world to do. So why don't they? I really think that it comes down to, you know,

it just seems too daunting and too separate from us. I'm not speaking for us, obviously, but for many young people, I feel like politics seems like this huge thing that's so separate from us. I'm not speaking for us obviously but for many young people I feel like politics seems like this huge thing that's so separate from us but if you go ahead and ask young people do you care about social issues, do you care about employment, about housing, about education, even about truth and reconciliation, they'll say hell yes but they just don't understand how to you know dissect these policies and kind of see through what

politicians are saying versus what is actually going to be put into practice. I think the second thing is, especially for young people who are engaged in politics like us, burnout. The mental health challenges that come with having to fight for a seat on the table, having to fight to be heard, while also balancing our lives, education, jobs, trying to find a job after we graduate. And I think for so many young people, it just seems too daunting to be involved in politics.

It takes too much time, too much effort. Sarah, why don't you guys vote? I mean, I could agree, but in terms of voter turnout, or in terms of why me as a 17 year old, why I don't I vote? Well you, I've only just met you, but my hunch is the first chance you get to vote you're going to go vote. Yes. But I also, I don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying a lot of your friends are not going to vote. They don't feel a need to vote. They feel the parties are all the same.

They don't feel the parties are reaching out to them, even though I see evidence of it all the time that they're putting policies in the window that should appeal to you. I think that the reason that there has been lower voter turnout amongst young people is because 18 is not an optimal time for us to start voting. And I think that... What would be better? For a few reasons. I think 16 years old is a much better time for us to start voting.

And there have been many cases of this. I mean Austria was the first nation in the developed world to lower the voting age in all elections in 2007 and it worked very well for them. I think that 16 year olds are definitely mature enough and I think there are there are so many people pushing, such as one of the lovely organizations that myself and Jayden work with, Vote16. Vote16? Yeah, we work- You want to get that for municipal elections though, is that right, for starters? Well, all over.

All encompassing. We have a council bill, we have a motion, DM 23.6. 23.1? 23.1, thank you. Let's argue about what number the motion is. Obviously 16, old enough to drive, get behind the wheel of a car, should be old enough to vote. That's the idea. Exactly. Okay, what's the chances of that happening? Well, the City Council Clerk is going to put forward a report which we're going to

work on implementing with Council. Which city? Toronto, say council. Sorry, not to be Toronto centric everyone. We're not the only city in our church. But the point is we are advocating across the country because it's breaking our constitutional rights. In Canada, we have a constitutional right to vote. We as Canadian citizens. I'm a citizen, you're a citizen, I should be able to vote just like you should. I'm 16 and I'm limited by virtue of an age because I'm not considered just as much of a productive

or contributing member of society as you, which means maybe I won't be as much of a productive and contributing member of society. And as soon as we start recognizing that, we will start seeing that innovation and leadership coming out of young people. But because we're not, and because we're not even considered just like anyone else,

it almost feels we're so belittled, but we're just as capable. Let me get Adam in on that. What would happen, Adam, do you think, if we changed the voting age from 18 to 16? I feel nothing much would change, which is why I think it's strange that we haven't done it yet, or it hasn't been a large motion. The only major change would be that 16 year olds, and 17 year olds, of course, would feel like they have more of a say in what's happening in their government, which I see is entirely positive. We've discussed how we feel disenfranchised or frustrated by why we can't or how we can't contribute in our government.

And changing that would pretty much reverse course for most of us. You know what I've always thought, and I have no idea if I'm right about this, but I always thought if you gave 16-year-olds to vote, they would bring their parents to the polls and their parents, who might not normally vote, would vote. Maybe in some cases for the first time.

Because you guys are the leaders of tomorrow. Don't think I don't know it. I want to thank all of you for coming into TVO tonight, both actually and virtually. Adam Foley, I look forward to further conversations with you when you actually can vote when you're 18 years old that is unless of course you get the vote before that and on my right here Leah Chang and over here on the left Jayden Braves and Sarah Mora it's great to have all of you on our program tonight thanks so much thank

you thank you very much