Canadian electorate stays home in droves

By Janice Tibbetts
Canwest News Service

The election of 2008 recorded a turnout of 59.1 per cent, the lowest election turnout in history. (Mark van Manen/Vancouver Sun)

OTTAWA - Canadians stayed away from the polling stations in record numbers Tuesday, reinforcing an international trend of steady decline attributed to voter malaise, mistrust of politicians, and a feeling that the election outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Almost 10 million voters -just over 40 per cent of those eligible -stayed home instead of heading to the ballot box on a balmy October day to exercise their democratic right.

The 59.1 per cent tally was almost six per cent lower than it was in the winter of 2006, when 64.7 per cent of potential voters cast ballots in an election that ended 13 years of Liberal rule.

"I think the last election was more competitive and it captured the public's interest," speculated Jon Pammett, a Carleton University political science professor who co-authored a study on declining voter engagement.

But he also noted that relatively high turnout nearly three years ago was a blip in a two-decade trend of declining electoral engagement, particularly among young people. The desire for change sparked an increase in voters in 2006, up from a previous record low of 60.9 in 2004.

Voter turnout this week was lowest in Newfoundland, where many Tories may have stayed home rather than defy a strong "anything-but-Conservative" campaign launched by Premier Danny Williams in the latest salvo in his ongoing feud with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Alberta experienced the second-worst numbers, with the northern, transient boom town of Fort McMurray drawing fewer voters per capita than anywhere else in the country, at 36 per cent.

"There's a significant lack of competition in Alberta and there's a feeling your vote is not going to make a difference," said Harold Jansen, a University of Lethbridge political scientist.

He said it's time for Canada to consider mandatory voting, which exists in Australia.

"We've never seriously debated it in Canada and I think we're at the point where we need to discuss it," said Jansen. "I'm coming around more and more to the idea that it's something worth considering and possibly adopting."

Harper also weighed in on the failure of a growing percentage of Canadians to vote, which he said is an unexplained and disappointing "phenomenon" that needs to be studied.

"I think it's fundamental to all the rights and freedoms that we enjoy," Harper said Wednesday in Calgary.

"All parties and their members and their workers work very hard to get their messages out to the Canadian people and give the Canadian people a lot of options."

Elections Canada, concerned about a growing decline over the last two decades, commissioned a study five years ago that revealed a skeptical electorate that believed its votes wouldn't change anything and that the political parties had nothing decent to offer.

"There is a widespread perception that politicians are untrustworthy, selfish, unaccountable, lack credibility, are not true to their word, etc.," said the study, compiled by Pammett and Lawrence LeDuc, a political scientist at University of Toronto.

"People are less likely to cast a ballot if they feel they have no influence over government actions, do not feel voting is an essential civic act, or do not feel the election is competitive enough to make their votes matter to the outcome, either at the national or the local constituency level."

The authors, who interviewed 1,000 people who didn't vote, also found that young people, the poor, and new Canadians are less likely to head to the polls.

The national peak in voting was 50 years ago, when almost 80 per cent of Canadians came out to hand Conservative John Diefenbaker the biggest majority in the country's history. The numbers have dropped steadily over the years - and dramatically in the 1990s, when the Liberals dominated the political landscape.

In this week's election, turnout was highest in Prince Edward Island at 69.5 per cent. The riding of Malpeque led the country, with almost 73 per cent of voters casting ballots.

Ontario votes were the same as the national average of 59.1 per cent, while B.C. and Quebec were both above average, at 61 per cent.

The Yukon had the highest turnout among the territories, with 63.7 per cent of registered voters making the trip to the ballot box.

Voter turnout percentage:

Canada: 59.1

Prince Edward Island: 69.5

Yukon: 63.7

New Brunswick: 62.8

Quebec: 61.1

British Columbia: 61.0

Nova Scotia: 60.7

Saskatchewan: 59.4

Ontario: 59.1

Manitoba: 56.8

Alberta: 52.9

Nunavut: 49.4

Northwest Territories: 48.6

Newfoundland and Labrador: 48.1

Turnout in major cities:

Ottawa: 68.9

Victoria: 68.9

Regina: 62.9

Montreal: 61.4

Saskatoon: 61.1

Halifax: 60.8

Vancouver: 59.9

Winnipeg: 58.2

Toronto: 56.6

Calgary: 54.6

Edmonton: 54.4

Source: Elections Canada