Democratic Engagement Exchange reignites the Canadian VOTE Coalition leading up to the September 20 federal election
Image from the Election Outreach and Engagement Organizer Handbook. Illustration by Emma Jenkins.
Canadians are facing an unprecedented federal election period. Against a backdrop of democratic backsliding around the world, Canadians may be asked to place their faith in our democracy and vote in a federal election. This comes at a time when many Canadians are still struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Faculty of Arts' Democratic Engagement Exchange (external link) (The Exchange) and Apathy is Boring (external link) (AisB) have relaunched the Canadian VOTE Coalition (external link) , a national network of over 300 community organizations and hundreds of local leaders from coast to coast to coast who share a commitment to non-partisan voter engagement.
After decades of steady decline, voter participation in the last two federal elections increased, however nine million eligible Canadians still did not vote in the 2019 federal election (source: Elections Canada). While Elections Canada is working hard to make voting easy, safe and secure, engaging first-time and infrequent voters will be even more challenging during a snap election called during a pandemic when Canadians are struggling to respond to the ongoing public health crisis.
The coalition is made up of hundreds of Canada’s leading national, regional and local community-based organizations and local leaders who have trusted relationships with people in their community.
Free Trainings, Tools and Resources for Community Organizations to Get Out The Vote
The Exchange and AisB is providing Canadian Vote Coalition organizations free training, tools and resources to engage their community to drive voter engagement and participation, including:
- “Election Outreach 101” and “Social Media Best Practices” Workshops;
- An Election Outreach and Engagement Organizer Handbook;
- VOTE Bootcamp for youth to support their friends and networks make it to the polls;
- Fun and inspiring shareable public service announce videos and graphics to demystify the voting process;
- Weekly updates and networking opportunities to share the latest news and best practices.
The coalition is open to any non-partisan organization and local leader. Join the Canadian Vote Coalition. (external link)
“In the United States and around the world, hyper-partisanship and declining trust in democratic institutions is literally costing millions of lives. The only way to avoid that in Canada is for our trusted community-based organizations and local leaders to step up engage their communities and demystify the voting process.” John Beebe, Director and Adjunct Professor, The Democratic Engagement Exchange, Faculty of Arts at Ryerson University.
About the Canadian VOTE Coalition
In the 2019 federal election, Ryerson University’s Democratic Engagement Exchange and Apathy is Boring led the first and only non-partisan Canadian Vote Coalition, bringing together over 300 organizations and hundreds of local civic leaders from across the country to engage first-time and infrequent voters who might not otherwise participate in the federal election this fall.
Through trusted community partners and organizations, the Canadian Vote Coalition mobilized 740 organizations and local leaders committed to voter engagement in 77 towns and cities and 25 National Champions. Through the Canadian Vote Coalition, we were able to reach 4.3 million voters. Community organizations across Canada held hundreds of events, guided by the flagship “Vote PopUp”, and engaged with hundreds of thousands of community members online and in-person.
Coalition partners included national community-based organizations like YWCA Canada, YMCA Canada, Community Food Centres Canada, Canadian Muslim Vote, Operation Black Vote, ABC Life Literacy, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, and dozens of regional libraries, university student associations and local community centres from Nova Scotia to the Yukon.
About the Democratic Engagement Exchange: Our mission is to build a vibrant and inclusive democracy where everyone living in Canada can contribute. Together, we can build healthy communities and find solutions to our most pressing challenges. For more information www.engagedemocracy.ca (external link) @RUEngageX (external link) .
