Two UBC students are working to show that age isn’t necessarily a setback when it comes to political involvement.
Joey Doyle and David Stall are running in the upcoming BC provincial elections under Your Political Party (YPP) — a party that is founded on the three pillars of open government, sustainability and collaboration.
Doyle, a second-year student at UBC’s Allard School of Law, is running in this year’s provincial elections for the Vancouver-Fairview riding.
“I’m running to try and get the message out there that it’s possible to do things differently,” said Doyle after expressing discontent with BC’s current political state. “We can be more inclusive in our government and [we can] allow people to have meaningful input into decisions that will affect their lives.”
YPP requires that each of its candidates sign a contract outlining their promises to their constituents. Some of Doyle’s platform-specific promises include his promise to work towards increasing funding for legal aid services as well as his promise to not vote in favour of the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
“The environment is definitely something that is on the forefront of people’s minds, especially students, because it’s an issue that affects everyone,” said Doyle.
As a young person, Doyle thinks he will fulfill a need for a fresh perspective and innovative ideas that will challenge the status quo.
“[The government] is not something that should be run by a bunch of people who have spent their whole life in the political system,” said Doyle.
Stall, a fourth-year political science student, is running for the Vancouver-Point Grey riding — but has not yet officially registered (he has until April 18 to do so). He echoed Doyle’s sentiment as he stated that “having younger people run encourages people to not be apathetic and to take charge of their own lives.”
Although Stall’s promises have not yet been published on the YPP website, he noted that beyond outreach and political transparency, his platform includes objectives such as “bridging the gaps between the worlds of academia and the worlds of government.”
Stall’s motivations for running in this provincial election include wanting to see a “truly competitive election” and contributing positively to the national perception of democracy, as it is “called into question as a national order.”
Using this year’s “appalling” 20 per cent voter turnout in this year’s AMS election as an example, Stall emphasized the currently low rates of youth participation.
SUGGESTED: AMS works to increase student turnout in provincial elections
“I think that when people think about politics, they tend to see relatively overweight white guys talking about their 401k and not the effects of their decisions on everyday citizens,” said Stall.
“People need to be involved.”
This article has been updated to clarify that David Stall still needs to register as an official candidate.