MOST YOUNG CANADIANS SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE

Poll also reveals that federal agenda is not youth's agenda

Misty Harris The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON -- Canada's top politicians and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
don't have much in common, save their collective appreciation for
showmanship. This federal election, however, the TV show's popularity among
young Canadians may be partly responsible for engaging teens in social
politics -- most notably, the contentious gay marriage debate.

A new poll commissioned by CanWest News Service shows 59 per cent of
Canadian teens, aged 14 to 18, support gay marriage. According to an expert
in political studies, this is somewhat expected of a group coming of age
while homosexual celebrities and icons are so ascendant in popular culture.

"If it's not in the closet, it has to have an impact," says Brenda O'Neill,
an associate professor at the University of Manitoba who has studied youth
voter apathy. "This means that over time, Canada is becoming more
progressive in its attitudes regarding civil liberties."

The poll of 500 Canadian teens was sponsored by the Dominion Institute and
Navigator Ltd., as part of Youth Vote 2004. The CanWest initiative is
designed to engage young Canadians in the federal election, and to give
parents, teachers and politicians a look at where young people stand on key
issues.

The issues that hit home with Canadian teens and the hot-button topics of
the federal election aren't necessarily one in the same, says O'Neill.

"What the heck is a youth issue? MP3s?" she asks, laughing. "A politician
with any foresight will recognize what youth think today is going to matter
for tomorrow. But you also have to recognize that young people's attitudes
will change as they age."

Edmonton resident Renze Nauta, who recently turned 18, decided the best way
to get his voice heard in the election was to get involved. So last
September, he threw his support behind Conservative Party candidate Rahim
Jaffer as a volunteer youth organizer.

"I think it would be a mistake to assume youth don't have the same needs as
everyone else," says Nauta. "I don't think there really is one specific
youth issue."

Although Nauta tends to side with the Conservatives on key social issues,
such as gay marriage and the decriminalization of marijuana, the teenager
is adamant that his political opinions are his own.

"I don't take marching orders from anybody," he asserts. "I make my own
decisions."

The CanWest survey was conducted at the end of March and has a 4.3-per-cent
margin of error. Other key findings include strong support for immigrants
(58 per cent of respondents disagreed with the statement that immigrants
don't want to fit into Canadian society), engagement in the community (29
per cent have volunteered at least once in the past three years) and a
feeling of safety in their environment (90 per cent said they feel safe
when they travel to school every morning).

"This is a very confident group of people who are feeling good, not feeling
all that badly about government, are pretty engaged in their school and
community, and are very confident about their own prospects," says Greg
Lyle, a principal at Navigator Ltd. with a long history in politics.

"There weren't a lot of 'I don't know' answers (from poll respondents)."

The social issue that drew some of the most polarized responses from youth
was the decriminalization of marijuana. When asked if the drug should be
made legal, teens were almost split down the middle, with 55 per cent
saying no and 41 per cent saying yes.

"These young people are clearly taking sides," says Lyle. "This is real
life for them -- they have to make real choices as to (whether) they're
going to do drugs or not."