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TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) — Citing “climate change” as a reason, a group of young Canadian launched a court challenge to lower Canada’s voting age to 16, with the help of left-leaning legal groups.

Ontario-based legal organization Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) and the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights at the University of Toronto are leading the constitutional challenge in the Ontario Superior court, says a press release sent out Wednesday.

The press release lists 13 youths aged 12 to 17 who are challenging Canada’s voting age, wanting to lower it from 18 to 16.

The last time Canada’s voting age was reduced was in 1970, when it went from age 21 to 18.

The youths are arguing that the “Canada Elections Act, which prevents citizens under the age of 18 from voting in federal elections, is in violation of Sections 3 and 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is therefore unconstitutional,” according to the press release.

Environmental extremism in the name of “climate change” has seen an increase in Canada under Canada’s Liberal party Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau has cited “climate change” as a reason to push through a radical agenda that calls for an end to the nation’s oil and gas industry, which would devastate the livelihoods of millions.

Canada’s former pro-abortion minister of environment and climate change Catherine McKenna supports lowering the voting age, also citing the climate as a reason.

“Imagine if 16-year-olds could vote about the future they want,” tweeted McKenna on Wednesday. “They’ll be 45 in 2050 when we need to be net zero. I’ll be 80. I want to hear their voices now about what we need to do to get there. They’ll live far longer with the consequences of our action or inaction.”

McKenna’s claim that allowing 16-year-olds to vote would somehow alter the course of the weather came the same day the group of youths sent out its news release about its voting age legal challenge.

According to the group, “Denying Canadian citizens under the age of 18 the right to vote is unconstitutional.”

The group says that “Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that all Canadian citizens have a right to vote in federal and provincial/territorial elections, and section 15 states that everyone is equal before and under the law without discrimination based on age.”

Katie Yu, a 15-year-old “litigant from Iqaluit,” said, “As children and youth, we deserve to speak for ourselves on the issues that matter to us and affect our lives, such as climate change and mental health.”

“We’re hoping that gaining the right to vote will be the next step.”

A JCFY lawyer claimed that “including voters under age 18 improves democracy.”

Just recently, Manitoba Senator Marilou McPhedran introduced to the Senate Bill S-201, which, if passed, would lower the nation’s voting age to 16.

The voting age bill has already passed first reading and calls for a referendum to be held to amend Canada’s Elections Act to read, “Every person who is a Canadian citizen and is 16 years of age or older on polling day is qualified as an elector.”

Nations that have their voting age set at 16, at least for certain elections, include Argentina, Germany, Brazil, Ecuador, Austria, Scotland, and Wales.