Robert Ouellette wants the voting age lowered. The Winnipeg mayoral candidate believes lowering the age to 16 would help replace voter apathy with energy among young people.

He believes if students could get more engaged in the political process in school and vote, they’ll be more likely to continue casting ballots later in life.

“We're not inspiring our youth, so we need to find different ways of being experimental, looking at these things from a different light,” said Ouellette.

The proposal drew mixed responses from high school students who spoke to CTV News on Friday, with some believing it could help while others said it likely wouldn’t spur teens to vote.

Voter turnout is typically low for people between the ages of 18 and 24.

Lowering the voting age would need a legislative change by the province.

Four of the six other current mayoral candidates disagree with the proposal to lower the voting age, while two others expressed some support.

Brian Bowman said the idea should not be dismissed, but he wouldn't say it was something he's actually considering.

Judy Wasylycia-Leis said the idea is worth considering at all levels of government.

- with a report from Jeff Keele