We lately had a lot of discussions here about how we don't like and make fun of US politicians and saying how they are (as usual) ignorant and don't know anything...so I just saw a report on CBC and thought why not add something to the flame?

According to the survey done in canada by CBC less than 85% could name Paul Martin as the current PM, that number was SIGNIFINCANTLY lower with younger Canadians under the age of 18...

On the other hand around 97% knew about US politics and that George W. Bush was the current president of the USA.

Young people are specifically affected because many of the curent policies are significantly affecting students and tuitions (and such) significantly increase every year.


Apparently quite a few of us don't even know anything about our own politics...hhmmm isn't there something wrong with this picture?

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not really.. i'm sure most people here could name 10 US presidents easier than they could name 10 Canadian Prime Ministers..

the US does a good job of exporting their "culture"..

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its a vicious cycle. Young people become disenfranchised because they see politics as irrelevent. Politicians then pander to the older crowd and ignore the youth vote and the prophecy then fulfills itself.

This is why it is so difficult to pass socially progressive, fiscally responsible laws that youth are mainly in favour of.

The moral of the story? GO OUT AND VOTE ON JUNE 28 NO MATTER WHO IT IS because by not voting you are part of the problem.

Like it or not, politics defines EVERYTHING we do in life. It may not always be obvious but its a fact. The voting ballot is the one and only chance you have to voice a legal opinion in the matters that control your daily lives.

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Originally posted by starsearcher Apparently quite a few of us don't even know anything about our own politics...hhmmm isn't there something wrong with this picture?

Nothing wrong... some of us just don't care, since we're too busy living the life, I guess. And I really don't want to get into politics, period (same old shit, corruption, 10% people making money off of the other 90% of the population and those 90% complaining about it all the time, never enough money for anything, yadda yadda yadda)... I'll leave the political discussions to you "big boys".

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Originally posted by Crazy Serb Nothing wrong... some of us just don't care, since we're too busy living the life, I guess. And I really don't want to get into politics, period (same old shit, corruption, 10% people making money off of the other 90% of the population and those 90% complaining about it all the time, never enough money for anything, yadda yadda yadda)... I'll leave the political discussions to you "big boys".

Yeah I guess you have a pretty good point -- and we definitely don't care...hhmmmm I don't really hear any politicians addressing any of the issues that concern younger ppl (our age) but i always keep hearing that they are "encouraging" us to vote

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Originally posted by dEsidEL not really.. i'm sure most people here could name 10 US presidents easier than they could name 10 Canadian Prime Ministers.. the US does a good job of exporting their "culture"..

Not only that Emery, but the Canadian education system is a politically correct joke when it comes to our own history. Remember "social studies".... the nice mix of history and geography in public school? You don't even recieve a true,indepth history of our country until highschool, and it focus' mostly on the landbridge and the British vs French era of settlement.

Compare to the states where in Kindergarten you are doing the "pledge of alliegence" learning all the states, and doing a play featuring Abe Lincoln's 4 score speech, with each child representing a former president. The American's ensure complicity and obedience with a healthy dose of indoctrination @ a young age... sort of why most of us in Ontario are Leafs fans.. afterall, the Ontario Teacher Pension Plan has had it's hands in the Leafs for years, and we all had our Blue and White days....

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Originally posted by crazedcanuck Not only that Emery, but the Canadian education system is a politically correct joke when it comes to our own history. Remember "social studies".... the nice mix of history and geography in public school? You don't even recieve a true,indepth history of our country until highschool, and it focus' mostly on the landbridge and the British vs French era of settlement.

it's not like there's volumes of books to learn when it comes to canadian history!
... unlike when i went to school in germany, where we covered ancient history (alongside Latin and Ancient Greek) for the first 6 years of high school ...and then only tapped into WWII (in grade 10)for 1 week without even really discussing the era of Nazism (but that's another story) ... nonetheless, history and politics, plus languages should be a lot more stressed in the canadian curriculum - exactly for that reason, as mentioned earlier, of encouraging youth to become more interested and aware, as well as to become active and responsible citizens when it comes to issues that affect every one of us, on a daily basis!

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