'Community isn’t just shaped by the adults': Oakville teen running for mayor
For 19-year-old Jack Kukolic, Monday will be the first municipal election in which he's able to cast a ballot.
It will also be the first time the Oakville teen has ever voted for himself.
Kukolic is running for mayor of Oakville, and if elected, he would be the youngest mayor in the province – but notoriety isn’t what inspired him to run.
“I ran because I saw that in the last municipal election only 37 per cent of eligible Oakville voters voted,” Kukolic told CTV News, “and 82 per cent of those [eligible voters] 18-25 did not vote.”
Along with the issues, Kukolic’s campaign has attempted to draw attention to the election itself, through a series of TikTok videos. In them, the teen explains everything from how to run to how to vote.
“I think having a younger candidate running lets them see that politics is not just this big scary thing that you see on the news – it’s an important process that you can get involved in.”
Kukolic is one of three candidates running to be mayor in Oakville. For the other two, it’s a rematch of the 2018 campaign with business leader Julia Hanna running against the incumbent Rob Burton.
Speaking to voters in Oakville’s downtown, Kukolic is offered best wishes by a number of voters, some of whom have already cast their ballot.
“It’s been really surprising,” Kukolic said, “I’ve had a lot of adults come and tell me that they are in involved in politics but are interested in the federal and provincial level – they vote in the federal and provincial levels but up until this point they’ve kind of just ignored the municipal level.”
The Sheridan College student, who runs his own photography/videography company, says he hopes voter turnout will be higher on Monday than it was in the last municipal election.
He also says, win or lose, this is just the beginning of his involvement with the city he calls home.
“This community isn’t just shaped by the adults, it's shaped by everyone and as I always say elections are for everyone, so I want everyone to go out and make an informed choice and just have a voice in their community.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.