In honour of Youth Week this week, it's timely to consider whether the vaunted youth vote made as big a splash in Monday's election as many media pundits predicted.
The simple answer is: not likely.
While there were some splashy upsets and some very big gains by the New Democrats and Conservatives, as well as a surprise victory by Green Party leader Elizabeth May, many ridings outside of Ontario and Quebec didn't change at all over the vote in 2008, suggesting that the staid politics of tried and true trumped youth enthusiasm.
Tweets, social media and vote mobs are a little thrilling to watch but they don't always turn into votes.
Still, it's worth noting that the youth have clout, should they choose to use it on election day, and a 14% national unemployment rate suggests they have at least one very good reason to get involved.
What do you think? Do you think the youth vote played a big role in the May 2 federal election? Vote in our online poll (scroll down, question is on the left side).
