Author: Dr. Jason Bristow
The Next West Generation: Young Adults, Identity and Democracy profiles the psychological traits, civic engagement, and political identities of western Canada’s young adults. The purpose is to understand how the arrival of a new generation will transform western Canada and, by extension, Canada. Dubbed the “the Next West Generation,” this group encompasses those born from 1970 onward.
Caricatured in popular culture, Generation X and Generation Y remain partially described and poorly analyzed. After widening the focus to reveal the traits its members have in common, this study ultimately characterizes the Next West Generation as “fiscally conservative, socially progressive, and radically individual.”
Based on primary and secondary research, this report incorporates existing research as well as the results of focus groups with western Canadians age 21 to 36 in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. The focus groups took place in February and March of 2007 and brought together a cross-section of young adults from non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal backgrounds.
KEY FINDINGS
The Next West Generation votes less than young adults did in the past. A cluster of attitudes consistent with the rise of individualism explains the largest portion of the drop in voter turnout. While the concept is abstract, individualism can be observed across a range of behaviours such as the decline of rule following and the tendency to view things as choices rather than obligations. As a broad societal force, this trend implies that democracy and its institutions must accommodate rising individualism-not the other way around.
What does an increasing number of non-voters mean for (western) Canadian democracy? On one hand, representative government becomes less representative for every vote not cast. Democracy can aggregate the preferences of a smaller sample to generate representative policies and governance. A tipping point does exist, however, where the non-voter sample will be too large, and the voters will comprise too small a share for the representative effect to hold. Second, to not vote is to predict the absence of other actions-to not join a political party, to not communicate with elected representatives-that are necessary for the civic fabric to remain strong in Canada. Not voting is the tip of an iceberg.
Identification with Canada is relatively strong. The Next West Generation expresses feelings of patriotism and nationalism that are surprisingly robust, given the predictions of declining nationalism in general and weakening Canadian identity in particular.
The Aboriginal focus groups generated somewhat different answers for identity, with a fair number of participants providing answers related to their Aboriginal status such as “Ojibway,” “Mohawk Six Nations,” or “Métis.”
The Next West Generation has strong feelings about Canada-US relations. Focus group participants emphasized Canada- US societal differences, rather than similarities. They expressed reluctance for further economic integration, based in part on an aversion to President George Bush and the perceived unfairness of how the US acts toward Canada on, for example, softwood lumber.
The Next West Generation’s view toward Quebec and national unity is more indifferent than passionate. Aboriginal focus group participants, however, expressed a competitive spirit toward Quebec with many arguing that, if the Quebecois are recognized as a nation within a united Canada, then their nations should also be recognized.