Laura Blanchette launches ward-specific zines to boost youth engagement in Ottawa elections

A new batch of zines hitting Ottawa neighbourhoods this fall will focus on the races voters often overlook: city council elections.

Laura Blanchette, the creator of Mid City zine, is partnering with Synapcity, a local civic engagement organization, to produce and distribute hundreds of hand-folded booklets across the city. Each of the 24 zines will cover a different ward, featuring volunteer-drawn covers and questionnaire responses from council candidates.

Blanchette launched Mid City in 2024 with funding from Carleton University's Peter Mansbridge Emerging Reporter Fund. She publishes it every two months, mixing doodles and bubble letters with stories about local musicians, city policy, and community issues. The booklets appear in independent bookstores like Octopus Books in the Glebe and at community workshops and local markets.

"It's about bringing people in and letting them decide how they want to engage," Blanchette said. "There are so many other ways to shape a civic society and to engage in democracy other than just voting."

Synapcity's board chair Riyaz Basi called the project vital for reaching communities with lower voter engagement, including youth and newcomers. The zines will be distributed during the election season leading up to voting day on October 26.

Blanchette got the idea from The Sprawl, a similar publication in Calgary. She works on the zines in the evenings and weekends while working in the federal public service, and has enlisted volunteers to help with the project.