Hoda Mroue reflects on the “Young, Canadian and Muslim - Making Our Ballots Count!” Federal Election Debate organized by Canadian Muslim youth and available to view online here.

Check out Muslim Canadians Who Won in the 2015 Federal Election.

Muslim Link is quite excited about the number of Muslim Canadians running in this federal election.

The IMPACT initiative is multi-partisan, grassroots project based in Toronto, whose aim is to educate Canadian Muslim youth in the political process and its vital importance, provide training in how to get involved on-the-ground, and empower them to recruit and lead their own team of volunteers.

The deadline for their fellowship for Canadian Muslim youth between the ages of 16 to 25 who wish to be involved during the Federal Election is Wednesday, July 22nd. You can apply online here.

Muslim Link interviewed the people behind IMPACT to find out more about the fellowship and what they hope to achieve.

Rabia Khedr is no regular applicant for the position of City Council, Ward 6 in Mississauga. This dynamic mother of four is a graduate of the University of Toronto in Mississauga, an active member and leader within her community and a decade long veteran on the Mississauga Accessibility Advisory committee. She also lives with a disability – Khedr is legally blind.

As a little girl, my choice for what I want to be when I grow up fluctuated frequently and often without warning, each time leaving me convinced that this new profession was my life’s calling. A surgeon, a mayor, a tennis player, an astronaut, a writer, a lawyer, and a human rights activist – the list was endless and populated with inspiration that came both from my surroundings and my parents’ continuous encouragement there really was nothing I couldn’t do.

On June 7th, the Muslim Coordinating Council of Ottawa-Carleton (MCC) organized an all candidates’ debate in the provincial riding of Ottawa-South, which has the city’s highest concentration of Muslim residents. Ottawa-South resident Qais Ghanem moderated the session, asking a range of questions from how the candidates would address global warming to how they would address the lack of recognition for foreign credentials.

There are concerns that younger voters might not be very engaged in this year’s Ontario provincial election. Muslim Link has sought out young Muslims in Ontario who are working, volunteering, or running with each major party in the provincial election to get their opinion about why it is important to be engaged in provincial politics. Our second interview is with Samiha Rayeda who is volunteering with New Democratic Party (NDP) Candidate Jennifer Mackenzie who is running in the riding of Ottawa Centre.

There are concerns that younger voters might not be very engaged in this year’s Ontario provincial election. Muslim Link has sought out young Muslims in Ontario who are working, volunteering, or running with each major party in the provincial election to get their opinion about why it is important to be engaged in provincial politics. Our first interview is with Adnan Ali who is volunteering with Progressive Conservative Candidate Jack MacLaren in Carleton-Mississippi Mills in Ottawa.

Recently, amid security concerns and alleged electoral fraud, Afghan men and women stood under pouring rain to cast their ballot in the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan.

Many young people were discouraged from voting by family members because of the danger around many polling stations. But regardless, images show long lines winding their way around those areas.

Here in Canada, there are few security concerns or fear of attacks and yet many young people are not turning up at voting stations.  According to Elections Canada, 38.8% of youth between ages 18-24 participated in the federal elections in 2011.

We at Muslim Link strive to make it a non-partisan publication that respects that Ottawa's Muslims support a variety of political parties. However, when we were invited to spend a day with Yasir Naqvi, the Ontario Minister of Labour with the Liberal Party, we jumped on the opportunity to see just what a politician does with his or her time. Our goal is to demystify the work of politicians and encourage citizens to take more of an interest in politicians' work throughout their time in office, not just during elections. This is important in order to keep politicians accountable to their constituents. Along with Muslim Link reporters, 16 year-old Adilah Makrup, a Lisgar High School student and photographer living in Yasir's riding, was invited to join Muslim Link on November 15th for the chance to connect with the man who represents her and her family provincially. We hope that this will become a regular series as more politicians invite us to spend the day with them.