Organizers of a pre-election candidates meeting next week are hoping to draw the attention of people who aren't normally engaged in politics.

The Safe Amplification Site Society, a non-profit group dedicated to music for people of all ages, is hosting an event that will be attended by candidates from six Vancouver parties next Wednesday (November 5).

“We want to get people who maybe in the past have been alienated by politics to be a little more involved and to realize that they do have a say, not just in who they cast their ballot for, but also in making the issues that are important to them become issues in the election campaign, and they can do that right at our event by asking questions in person to some of the candidates,” Ryan McCormick, a director with Safe Amp, told the Straight by phone.

He said the event is intended to focus on issues affecting young people, live music and performance, and local arts and culture. He expects civic issues like zoning, business licensing, and bylaws to come up.

“There’s all kinds of things that the city has a say over that affect live music venues, and there’s been plenty of venues that have come and gone over the years, and we’d like to see more sustainability where the venues aren’t always closing down, and I think that the city has a role in that,” said McCormick.

The meeting is also aimed at informing political candidates of some of the issues facing local musicians and artists.

“On the one hand we want to educate the voters in our community about the candidates, but on the other hand we want to educate the candidates about what matters to our community, and I think that in the past, people from arts and culture, particularly young people from sort of alternative spaces, haven’t necessarily spoken up, or at least not spoken up to the mainstream candidates, so this’ll be a chance for them to hear exactly what the young musicians of Vancouver want, and hopefully to remember us, no matter who wins,” said McCormick.

He added that in Vancouver’s arts and culture sector, live music tends to be particularly affected by regulatory issues.

“Generally, nobody’s going to complain about a painter quietly painting in a studio, but if there’s a loud band and drunk people wandering around at 3 in the morning, well that becomes more of a nuisance,” he said. “So I think that music tends to be a more difficult medium of art to handle in the city and I think that’s why we’ve seen a lot of the difficulties that music venues have had legally, which haven’t necessarily affected other aspects of local art and culture.”

The event next week is open to people of all ages. McCormick acknowledged that while any under-18 attendees won’t be able to cast their ballot in the election, he believes it’s important for young people “to have a voice in the political process.”

“A vote is just one part of the political process,” he said. “By coming and speaking passionately about what they believe in, I think young people can perhaps make even more of an impact than somebody who just cast a vote and was silent.”

The meeting will take place at Astorino’s, located at 1739 Venables Street, from 7 to 10 p.m. next Wednesday (November 5).

A full list of Vancouver debates and candidate meetings taking place before the November 15 civic election can be found here.