These past few weeks, I’ve found myself completely submerged in an area of politics that I thought I had escaped when I left Ottawa. For those of you who don’t know, I worked for the Young Liberals of Canada (YLC) for almost two years and I’ve recently found myself almost as submersed in the process as I was just 6 months ago.
This coming November, the Young Liberals will be electing a new executive (a President, and 5 Vice-Presidents) to run the organization. Am I running? No. I am, however, actively involved in a campaign to help elect a president. It may come as a surprise to you, but Young Liberal campaigns are big ordeals. Thousands of people, thousands of hours, thousands of dollars, thousands of beers.
When I first got involved with the Young Libs, I expected the elections to be much like Student Union elections. At face value, they’re similar in the sense that the campaigns are based on ideas and, generally, those who campaign harder will win. The difference comes in the scale of the operation and the length of the campaign. For this particular campaign, it will last roughly 8-9 months, and will involve a campaign structure of hundreds of Young Liberals in every province running a national campaign, all bound together through a national organizational structure. Provincial co-chairs, recruitment chairs, policy chairs, technical directors, fundraisers. The whole nine yards. To boot, you can multiply that by the number of candidates running. It’s some pretty intense and complex stuff. The thought of it right now, to be honest, is making me a little aroused.
So, why have I chosen to get involved with this beast that will inevitably lower my marks and probably lead to some sort of occasional delirium? For me, there are two aspects. 1. The YLC is, and always has been, a really important organization to me and has given me so much. I owe it to the organization to make sure that we have good people to lead the organization once I’ve aged out. 2. For the deliberative value. The campaign is both an opportunity and inspiration to talk about ideas. Ideas for the Young Liberals, ideas for the Liberal Party, and ultimately resolutions for the country. Let me expand...
Let's start with the former. I’ve been with the Young Liberals for years now. I’ve seen good leadership, bad leadership, and leadership that was relatively non-existent. I like to think that by now, I have a really good understanding of the organization and its purpose. Not everybody shares that same understanding, and sometimes these people end up in positions of power. This hurts the organization by disallowing progress. There are, however, lots of great people out there who truly understand the organization and its importance. My motivation in this campaign is helping to ensure that the right people are elected. Luckily, I’ve found people that I truly believe in, and will do what I can to ensure they succeed.
Now, onto the deliberative aspect. For me, the most enjoyable part of a campaign like this is the discussion of ideas. Public policy ideas. YLC organizational ideas. Constitutional ideas. Campaign strategy ideas. Creative ways to drink beer ideas. Idea ideas. You get the point. So, why is this type of deliberation important? Well, the act of deliberation in itself is important, regardless of the outcome. Here we have a group of Young Canadians actively talking every night about policy ideas that are consistent with a vision for Canada that we, as a group of friends, share. We’re thinking critically and trying to offer solutions. Fortunately (but not surprisingly), the deliberation is yielding great results. We have a group of bright people who are excited about our project and willing to put in some effort (probably more than is healthy). The further we go with our deliberations, the more excited people become and our work refines itself. It’s truly amazing, and inspiring.
At the end of the day, we have a large group of young people across the country sending dozens of emails a day, making hundreds of phone calls a week—all in the name of our country. Sure, some may consider the Young Liberals to be a very small part of our political process, but we DO make a difference. Remember the little thing called same-sex marriage in Canada? We can certainly thank the Young Liberals for their 10 years of fighting for its legalization. For an organization that “doesn’t make a difference” we’ve sure had some famous alumni go on to do pretty well: P.E. Trudeau, J. Turner, J. Chrétien, and P. Martin Jr.
My apologies, as this piece got way longer than I had expected. Hannah, this is a really great forum and I hope it will remain active. You’re a superstar.
If anybody has any feedback on my little rant, I’d love to hear it. Lets start a conversation.
All the best,
Scott P.
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