I’ve been following politics since I was a teenager. Covered elections, met candidates at every level and watched the democratic process from just about every angle you can imagine. I also participated as a Municipal Councillor. I’ll be honest—sometimes it’s hard not to get cynical about it all.
Then I sit down with someone like Janel van Dongen, and suddenly I remember why any of this matters.
Janel is a teenager from Nanoose who attended the Forum for Young Canadians in Ottawa in 2025. Only 107 students from across the country get selected for this program. She spent a week touring the House of Commons, the Senate, the Supreme Court. She participated in budget simulations and mock elections. She got to see how democracy actually works, not from a textbook, but from the inside.
But here’s what struck me most: Janel worked the last federal election as a deputy returning officer. Sixteen-hour day. Couldn’t even vote herself—missed the cutoff by a few weeks. But she showed up anyway because, as she put it, “the poll workers are what makes the elections happen.”
I’ve worked in media on both coasts of this country. I’ve seen a lot of young people disengage from politics, and honestly, who can blame them? But Janelle’s family watches elections “like other people’s families watch sports.” Election night is their Super Bowl.
That engagement started early. When she was eight years old, her homeschool project was to interview our MP, MLA, and regional director. Most kids that age can barely sit through a civics lesson. Janelle remembers those conversations vividly.
During her week in Ottawa, she got elected to the Ministry of Finance in a budget simulation. Her team had to pick three priorities out of twenty-four from different ministries. She learned what we rarely see: all the negotiation and arguing and collaboration that happens before a budget gets announced.
The forum even held a mock election. The candidates? Keanu Reeves, Justin Bieber, Terry Fox, and Tate McRae. Keanu won. Janel’s team backed Bieber and formed a coalition with Tate McRae supporters.
What I appreciate about Janelle is that she’s not just enthusiastic—she’s actually doing the work. She founded 100 Kids for Change, where young people vote by secret ballot on which charities to support. Teaching them early that every vote matters.
And she’s right. There was a riding in the recent federal election decided by one vote. One.
Janel funded her trip to Ottawa through her honorarium from working Parksville Rotary’s bottle drop on Saturdays. When she asked if she could use those earnings for the forum, Rotary covered the entire thousand-dollar cost. That’s the kind of community investment that makes a difference.
She told me something that’s stuck with me: “There is a ballot there waiting for you. It’s really important to make your voice heard because you don’t want other people to speak for you.”
In Courtenay-Alberni, where Janel worked the polls, voter turnout was 73%. Nationally, it was nearly 69%—highest in thirty years. People showed up. They participated.
What gives me hope isn’t just that Janelle understands the system. It’s that she believes in it enough to work within it, to teach others about it, to dedicate her time to making it function better.
If you could bottle that enthusiasm, I’d buy a case.
Peter McCully co-hosts The PULSE Community Podcast with Dave Graham from Parksville, BC. Listen to the complete interview with Janel van Dongen here: https://bit.ly/PulsePodcastEP30
Website: thepulsecommunity.ca