Across London, the signs of a city election are clear to see – literally. Coming in all shapes and sizes, bearing one of 111 possible different names, competing for positions as mayor, city council, or school board trustees, election signs adorn street corners, lawns, and boulevards around the city, reminding Londoners to get out and vote.
But it seems the youngest among the voting public often miss that reminder, even though youth engagement has the potential to shape the election outcome, said one political scientist.
Recent interviews conducted with Fanshawe College students about which issues are important to them in the city election suggest awareness of the municipal elections, and key information surrounding them, is at a low among youth in London.
“I’m not sure who is getting elected,” says Fanshawe College nursing student Raphael Alvis. “There’s not information going about it. All I see are the signs in the streets.”
During “people on the street” interviews last week, Alvis was one of a number of Fanshawe students who told XFM News they knew little about the municipal election.
Jasmine Bo, a student in the Autism Sciences & Behavioural Studies program, says that many students haven’t stayed informed on the election because they aren’t getting information on it.
“The election itself should be broadcast more because […] we barely know about it,” she says.
According to a 2020 survey done by Statistics Canada, youth demographics (identified as being between the ages of 18-24) across the country are less invested in politics than other age groups.
This trend among municipal politics to be relatively overlooked is a larger one. Matt Farrell, a political science professor at Fanshawe College, goes so far as to call the municipal level the “forgotten child” of politics.
Farrell says the reason for this is twofold: Firstly, municipal politics lack the presence of political parties.
“The average person doesn’t pay a lot of attention to politics, but they can remember who they voted for,” he says. “That connection is gone at the municipal level.”
Farrell also states that it is more difficult for voters to gather information on municipal candidates, and that together with the lack of partisanship the result is a sense of apathy towards municipal politics.
With the youth demographic, there are further reasons for a lack of engagement in London’s election. Despite a large decrease in international students since 2024 at Fanshawe, many members of the school’s student population are still from outside the city of London.
“They might not necessarily have an attachment to the community that they’re in,” says Farrell.
However, this doesn’t mean there are no young Londoners engaged in municipal politics.
Twenty-four year-old mayoral candidate Mustafa Zeboon has garnered attention for his social media-focused campaign. As well, at 19, Ward 12 candidate Ribal Zebian is the youngest person running for any position in the city.
Campaign sign for Ward 12 candidate Ribal Zebian. Despite the ubiquity of signs such as this in London, youth engagement in the election remains low.
Photo by: Curtis Stokman
Zebian is a student in the engineering program at Western University, and is running in Ward 12 against Alexander Main and incumbent Elizabeth Peloza. When asked about the lack of youth engagement in municipal politics, he blames communication issues.
“When you have hundreds of pages for a policy that has a bureaucratic approach or written in legal language, the youth […] don’t have the time or background to decipher all of that information,” he says.
Both Farrell and Zebian also see a generational gap as being a key issue with youth engagement. Zebian considers this gap to be “significant,” while Farrell says that older generations are more connected to their communities than youth voters.
Though the disconnect between the youth demographic and city politics is prevalent, both Zebian and Farrell believe that if youth were more involved, it could change the political landscape of London.
“If [young people] throw their voice into the polls and they just vote, there’s a high chance we could make a change,” says Zebian. “You’d be very surprised how quickly we can get your ideas out there.”
Farrell says it’s important to recognize that elections can make a difference on local issues that affect Fanshawe and Western communities, such as the housing market and the cost of living.
“If one of [the candidates] makes a concerted effort to try and increase the number of younger folks that do come out and vote, there’s a lot of potential there,” he says.
With low voter turnouts and close races in London, attracting the youth vote could mean the margin of victory for a candidate who does so.
Campaign signs outside of Fanshawe College. Experts believe that if youth voters were focused on as a demographic, the political landscape of London could be changed.
Photo by: Curtis Stokman
Ultimately, both Farrell and Zebian have similar answers to the question of how to engage the youth demographics and get out the vote. Farrell believes that municipal politicians putting in the effort to appeal to youth voters is the key, while Zebian believes that better communication of issues could attract the demographic.
“If we could properly, adequately, and clearly communicate and show them ‘hey, if you come, you can be heard in this way,’ we can get results and that builds trust,” he says.
Zebian is confident that the presence of young candidates such as himself and Mustafa Zeboon suggests younger generations are becoming engaged in city politics.
“It’s gonna make a big difference,” Zebian says. “Right now it might not show as much, but the more we get in, the more momentum we’re gonna have, [and] the more we can do.”
