Vote Mobs

Rick Mercer has seemingly been elevated to an idol-like status among Canadian youth, and has become a key figure in this federal election, especially among younger voters. If you don't know him, he's a political satirist on CBC and hosts the Rick Mercer Report, one of the channel's most popular shows (link to his site). He has hosted shows like The Greatest Canadian, and frequently tours the country to celebrate Canadian culture, and has stopped by many universities. His show is famous for his rants, where he spends a minute or two in front of a camera in the alleyways of Toronto. Here's one from the end of March encouraging students to vote:

And with the phrase, "do the unexpected", university students have been driven to do just that. University of Guelph students started the trend of flash mobs, where large groups of students suddenly gather together and do something as a group to encourage students to vote, before dissipating back into the general crowd. This has been mixed in with vote mobs, where groups of students run around campus with signs and Canadian flags, raising awareness of the election and defying student apathy. The Globe and Mail features an article discussing Rick Mercer's impact on Canadian youth, and links to several vote mob videos. Below is the first one by the University of Guelph.

A very traditional "vote mob" approach. 

These mobs were non-partisan and aimed to raise awareness, and communicate to politicians that the student vote matters. On April 7, both Harper and Ignatieff came to Hamilton, and McMaster planned a rally of its own. The CBC covered the vote mob here, though a bit more like a rally, and below is a video.

We first rallied outside the Hamilton convention centre, keeping our distance from the anti-Harper demonstrators and waved our signs and flags at the cars on Main street. We shouted phrases like "students vote!, students vote!", sang O Canada, and modified McMaster spirit cheers with a focus on voting. After a while, with the Harper rally getting started, we approached the door of the convention centre, asking if we could join in. Only hours after Harper had apologized for kicking students out of a rally because of their Facebook picture, the pressure was on, and after about a 10-15 minutes delay, the organizers let us in. 

After giving them our names, passing the first security check, leaving bags behind, and giving them our names and our addresses at a second checkpoint, we entered the Conservative rally room, where the Stephen Harper ad was playing. We stayed for the length of the rally, though no questions to the public were taken, and he did not acknowledge our presence. The students then walked 8 blocks to the 7 pm Liberal rally, and as seen in the video above, were able to ask Ignatieff a question, though most of the students were not able to fit in the packed room.

More recently, McMaster produced another Vote Mob video, partially inspired by the viral UBC lip dub. We filmed it on April 15th, and the video was out just a few days later. 

Lastly, a recent interview with Rick Mercer showed his support for the Vote Mobs. It's certainly been an interesting twist to this election, and I hope more students will be involved in these events in this election and in upcoming elections.