Young Liberals

One of the great pleasures of running for Vice-President (English) is engaging with Liberals from across many spectrums of location, age and opinion. I am always overwhelmed by the diversity and talent of our members. During this campaign, I have had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of Young Liberals, many of whom have volunteered to help me with tasks from making calls to creating materials to amplifying our message by social media.

From the start of my association with the Liberal Party, I have respected the value of the Young Liberals. As President of the Thornhill EDA, I made sure they had a real seat at the table. Our EDA has been rewarded with a dedicated and growing YL group, which has been invaluable both during and between campaigns. During the last campaign, as candidate in Oshawa, local YL’s and YL friends from other ridings were a key part of letting Oshawa feel a Liberal presence.

As a candidate for VP (English), I speak regularly with the Young Liberals, from the President of the YL’s to a plethora of university and high school members. Without their help, my campaign would have been impossible. I have learned that there are several key issues which have YL attention.

Opening Up the Party: This has been a big debate amongst Canadian YL’s. It seems a strong majority is supportive of using a primary system in our Leadership selection process and will be campaigning hard for it at the Biennial. I will be right there with them. I am on record (The Primary Option: Open Nominations, Open Society) as supporting a primary style system.

An Investment that Pays Dividends:
Let’s be blunt. The Young Liberal organization is not in place to draw votes from the 18-25 year old demographic. They are here because they want to participate in the best political system on the planet in an environment where their ideas and actions are not constantly judged by people to who youth is a word of nostalgia. Young Liberal leaders contribute valuable ideas to the body politic and young liberals do much of the heavy lifting during campaigns. New leader are built as increasing responsibilities are given to young people who distinguish themselves.
The Young Liberals are our investment in creating future Liberal members and leaders. Like education and exercise, the benefits are not immediate. The YL investment is one of the few that still pays an amazingly high return plus a dividend.
I believe that to keep the YL investment paying off, we must:
• Make sure that our events are open to youth. This Biennial convention has a better Youth price than the last ($200 vs $500). This is a good start. I would like to make sure that the party and YL leadership provides information and assistance to those who cannot afford the cost, with focus on tools and techniques for local fundraising.

• Maintain basic staffing and infrastructure: In tough economic times with our sources of funding in doubt it is tempting to look at the YL budget and staff and consider cuts. Even with the budget at a historic low, everything seems on the table.

I believe that to reduce the budget or remove the single Youth staffer would cost us much more than it can possibly save. A volunteer organization, the single staffer is needed for the organization to run. While the desire to reduce costs is reasonable, this is not the place to look.

I believe we must be looking to expand our youth fundraising capabilities. With effective mentoring, there is no question in my mind that the YL’s can become a profit centre for the Party. For the YL’s, this is a real benefit, giving them a well-earned seat at the table.

When I am VP, I will stand against any immediate reduction to the Young Liberal budget.


There is a lot of work to do in the Liberal Party. We need our Young Liberals working with us to renew the party that will one day be theirs.