Any discourse about how young (18-21 yrs) voters feel about this moment in Canadian political history? How their new voting privilieges make them feel, especially vis-a-vis the results?
In high school (1990's), in learning the difference between Canadian and American political systems (to the degree we were taught, anyway), we were told that in this country it is important to vote based on issues in your riding and how your candidates stack up based on what you want, not like in the US where you are voting based on who you want for President. It seems that information was bunk, simply not the way Canadians make voting decisions.
At age 34, I'm extremely jaded about national politics (and bureaucracy, nation-building, patriotism, corporatization, blah blah) and the best response to it I can find right now is to turn all of my attention to local issues. I vote in the federal election out of duty, but don't bother fretting about the outcomes; if a majority of Canadians vote for the Conservatives, then that's how it is. The continued effects against Canadian culture, environment, justice, etc. are apparent enough to me, but that's not how 40% of Canadians view things.
But I seriously wonder what a new voter makes of all this furore, especially the wild mood swings that come with pitting your energies for anything but the Conservatives, if you happen to be of that persuasion. I suppose 40% of new voters are savouring the experience of voting and seeing one's vote go straight to the top. Perhaps that's a way to avoid becoming jaded?