The federal election is just 10 days away and politicians are doing whatever they can to secure votes. Part of that process is engaging young people, a demographic that traditionally has a poor showing at the polls.
A local celebrity is doing his part to help inspire the younger generation to exercise their democratic right.
If you are a fan of the Canadian cult comedy Trailer Park Boys, Jim Lahey needs no introduction. The creative team of Chris Cooper, Jeff Middleton, and Rebekah Higgs took advantage of Lahey’s popularity by producing a video that sees the Trailer Park Boys character encouraging people to get out and vote.
“He speaks to a whole sub-cult,” says Cooper. “He has a whole following, which I don't think is necessarily just young. I think it goes right through every age group.”
In addition to the video, the creative team also made an interactive website. For those interested in Lahey’s political point of view, you simply visit mrlaheyvotes.ca, type in your question and hit the ‘get his opinion button.’ A video response will instantly appear.
“They've watched him for so long, Mr. Lahey has been speaking to them for so long and now what's really special about this is that they get to speak with Mr. Lahey,” says Middleton.
The site has only been operating for a few hours and it has already had over 25,000 visitors.
“We just want to see that number go up. We want to engage young people,” says Higgs.
In the 2011 federal election voter turnout was 61 per cent, the third worst turnout in Canadian election history.
The creative team hopes their campaign will help to change those numbers. They say one of the reasons why they chose actor John Dunsworth, a.k.a. Mr. Lahey, was because he is politically engaged.
“John is very passionate, as we are, about the election and just getting the word out there to people about how to register and how to vote,” says Higgs.
“He makes you laugh and then he makes you think, that's what our piece is about,” says Middleton.
The federal election takes place on October 19.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Matt Woodman