There is a scene in the 1985 teenage film The Breakfast Club where the cool jock played by Emilio Estevez goes through the wallet of the nerdy brain played by Anthony Michael Hall.  Discovering that the underage boy has phony ID, Estevez asks what he needs it for: “So I can vote,” answers Hall, with some incredulity.Although this scene confirms Hall's status as a total geek, it is also somewhat endearing.  An underage teenager so enthusiastic to participate in the democratic process that he actually forges ID. If only the rest of society were as keen.Which brings us to the House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform.  Currently crisscrossing the country, it is consulting Canadians on, among other topics, mandatory voting.  Yes, you heard it right – mandatory voting.  As well as looking at our electoral system, the committee was also mandated to examine the idea of making voting obligatory through the threat of a fine or other measures as they do in Australia and many other jurisdictions.Let's not dismiss mandatory voting out of hand.  We have a problem in this country. Apathy, distrust, cynicism and ignorance about our political system are rampant, especially among young people. Meanwhile those on the margins, including those living in poverty, tend not to vote.  And although voter turnout increased significantly in the last federal election, many Canadians still chose to stay home.A lack of political engagement is a dangerous thing.  Governments can get away with a lot more when no one understands or is paying attention. Conversely, not all decisions are top down.  Addressing many of society's challenges often requires collective action — we need everyone tuned in.Forcing people to vote might improve things.  Not only would turnout increase, but political parties would also need to appeal to everyone, not just those nice middle-class people who currently vote regularly.There is, however, little evidence that obliging people to vote increases political engagement and interest.  In 2007, a team of researchers gave a group of students $25 each to vote in the Quebec provincial election.  They tracked their knowledge and level of political engagement during the campaign and found them no different than students who were not paid.No, I am firmly in the camp that believes that low voter turnout is a symptom of a problem rather than a problem itself.   And although the problem is complex, I believe a big part of it revolves around a lack of civic duty that exists in our society — a sense that as a Canadian I have an obligation to participate in working toward the common good, including voting.I am not alone. Over the last few years, experts in voting have increasingly acknowledged this sense of duty as a key motivator in getting people to the polls. Creating this feeling is not easy, however, especially in a society full of people focused on fulfilling their individual potential and demanding the rights and resources needed to do it.Education can help.  Many have suggested that instead of mandatory voting we need across-the-board mandatory civics classes.  Community groups, business organizations and religious communities can also help by speaking about our obligations as citizens.We also need politicians and the media on board.  We need to stop presenting our political process as a spectator sport where citizens look to government to deliver all the answers, watch the opposition say that the answers won't work and rely on the media to keep score.  Think of the current debate over a carbon tax.  Is it really a serious debate when those criticizing the feds are proposing little in terms of alternative solutions to combat climate change?If we all agree that climate change is a threat, then isn't it time that all of our political leaders put their solutions on the table? Their plans must outline the role that ordinary Canadians should play — including paying higher prices because of a carbon tax. Let's find a way to have a national discussion that allows all Canadians to understand the options, to suggest some of their own, and to reach some sort of consensus on how to proceed. Now that would go a long way toward creating a climate of civic duty.Kellie Leitch's ridiculous proposal for screening immigrants for anti-Canadian values triggered a national discussion over what constitutes the basic values of our society.  I recall few commentators, if any, who included a sense of shared responsibility, or our need to occasionally set aside our personal interests and work for the common good, as core to being Canadian.Instilling this sense of responsibility and obligation would go a long way to fostering the sense of civic duty needed to increase voter turnout.  Who knows, maybe we could reach a point where the biggest voting problem we face would be curbing the prevalence of underage kids trying to vote with fake ID.John Milloy is a former MPP and Ontario Liberal cabinet minister currently serving as the co-director of the Centre for Public Ethics and assistant professor of public ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, and the inaugural practitioner in residence in Wilfrid Laurier University's Political Science department. He is also a lecturer in the University of Waterloo's Master of Public Service Program.  John can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @John_Milloy.