Article content

A five-member committee, made up of Edmonton city councillors and the northern city’s mayor, unanimously supported a push to lower the municipal voting age to 16 on Tuesday.

The Edmonton Youth Council has been campaigning for the change, which still needs Edmonton council approval and then would need provincial approval.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Edmonton councillors endorse lowering voting age to 16 but Calgary councillors not keen to follow Back to video

While the idea of allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote for city council members and school board trustees is gaining steam in Edmonton, some city councillors in Calgary are against lowering the voting age.

“What’s the purpose? Is it to increase voter turnout? There are other ways of increasing voter turnout,” Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot said Tuesday.

Ward 12 Coun. Shane Keating, a former teacher and principal, said he’s comfortable with leaving the voting age at 18.

“We have to make sure we have a full life experience before we actually start making decisions on who and how we’re going to govern the city,” he said.