Our History

From Broke to Booshaka! The history of Apathy is Boring.

On January 4th 2004 - when a public affairs minded dance choreographer from the Yukon, a filmmaker from Montreal, and a photographer / graphic designer from Vancouver island met at a party, the idea of Apathy is Boring was born.

Seeing that many of their peers felt disengaged from the democratic process, Ilona Dougherty (23), Paul Shore (30) and Mackenzie Duncan (20) wanted to see youth voting rates increase while combating the issue of youth apathy.
 
Five months later the 2004 Federal Election was called and work began on what would be Apathy is Boring’s first federal “Get out the Youth Vote” campaign. Using a website, digital media technology, concerts, and a media outreach campaign, Apathy is Boring was able to reach over 500,000 young people in Canada in less than four months. Throughout that campaign Apathy is Boring was repeatedly featured in the national media,  including Canada AM, Mike Duffy Live, CBC - The National, CBC radio – The House, Global TV, Muchmusic TV and newspapers across Canada.
 
Following this successful campaign the founders of Apathy is Boring began to build the idea into an organization. Through local events “The Civic Duty Concerts” in Montreal featuring artists such as Euphrates, Eternia, K’naan, Tumi and the Volume, Taima, Chris Brown & Kate Fenner. Apathy is Boring gained more media attention, and was able to develop a solid local youth following.
 
In the summer of 2005 Apathy is Boring launched www.youthfriendly.com in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage and began offering Youth Friendly workshops to ‘adult’ organizations who wanted to better engage youth in their work.
 
Through 2005 Apathy is Boring continued to produce events, give workshops and develop resources, while at the same time renting their first office and hiring their first staff! October 2005 saw the online launch of Apathy is Boring Clothing Line (design by Mackenzie Duncan), and in December Apathy is Boring hosted the World Urban Café Fashion show with Melissa Auf Der Maur, which was covered by Etalk Daily & The New York Times. That same night co-founder Ilona Dougherty went home at 4am and found in her mailbox the confirmation that Apathy is Boring had received a major grant from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.
 
In January 2006 Apathy is Boring carried out, in partnership with the Go Vote Coalition, its second national federal election campaign featuring an Apathy is Boring PSA shown in Cineplex Odeon Theatres across Canada for a full week leading up to the election.
 
In October 2006 Apathy is Boring launched a new website thanks to funding from Telefilm Canada. The resource continues to grow and offer Canadian youth everything they need to know about getting involved. Throughout 2006 & 2007 Apathy is Boring continued to give Youth Friendly workshops throughout Canada (Yukon, Alberta, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec) and hosted concerts the biggest of which featured Moka Only, Zaki Ibrahim & Chinatown and offered a forum for dialogue between youth and politicians from almost every federal political party.

Collaboration with a growing number of partners during 2008 solidified Apathy is Boring’s status as a leading voice in reaching out to Canadian youth. From the policy oriented (conducting research for Elections Canada about the impact of new voter ID requirements on Northern and First Nations Canadians) to the party oriented (sending street teams to talk to youth about democracy at over 21 concerts and festivals across the country), Apathy is Boring reached tens of thousands of youth and engaged them in dialogue.

In 2008, Apathy is Boring completed its Concert Series “Every Party Should Be Democratic” in conjunction with its third federal election outreach campaign. In addition to two Youth Dialogues with the Governor General of Canada, Apathy is Boring co-produced a series of four concerts. These events, featuring well-known Canadian artists Hedley, ill Scarlett, Theo Tams, K'naan, and Jully Black among others, exemplified Apathy is Boring’s innovative format: by bring together political and community leaders, artists, and over 10 000 youth to talk about the issues that matter to them and become inspired to get active in their communities. Apathy is Boring also produced a PSA that aired on MuchMusic Television, advertised in free weeklies in every major Canadian city, and undertook an online campaign “Democracy is More than Voting” urging youth to make an informed decision in the fall 2008 federal election.

Apathy is Boring continues to be an important voice on youth issues including testifying in front of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedures and House Affairs in fall 2007 about changes to the Elections Act. Apathy is Boring has grown to have a full time staff, several interns each year,  an active board of directors, tens of thousands of youth who visit the website, and subscribers to the list serve, and many active volunteers. They have also developed an online presence on external networking sites that attract hundreds of visitors every month.
 
Apathy is Boring has become a truly national non-partisan project that uses art, and technology to encourage active citizenry, outreaching to a broad demographic of youth about how to be more involved in the democratic process and they are excited to continue doing this important work.