Months ago, the Liberal Party of Canada was dealt a devastating blow when it was relegated to third-party status in the May 2011 federal election. During the Jan. 13-15 Liberal biennial convention, the party sought to enact resolutions to regain their official opposition status.
Their new resolutions on hot-button issues seemed targeted at youth across Canada. The party voted 77 per cent in favour of legalizing marijuana Jan. 15, and the attempt to engage youth was a reoccurring theme throughout the three-day conference.
“Never give up, never give in, never settle, never let them define you,” former party leader Michael Ignatieff told young Liberals during the opening ceremony.
Not only did Ignatieff promise them they’d stand where he once did, he said they’d do better.
“I didn’t get there,” Ignatieff said. “I’m telling you, you will get there.”
Only 38.8 per cent of eligible Canadian youth cast a vote last May, according to Elections Canada, and nearly 30 per cent of them didn’t vote due to sheer disinterest in the political process.
If you asked the young Liberals, they’d tell you that focusing Liberal interests on issues youth are invested in will help engage them.
Youth are attracted to certain issues, said Hilary Buchan-Terrell, the eastern regional co-ordinator for the Ontario Young Liberals. Even if the issues don’t affect older voters, she said it’s important to bring forward policies that will have greater effects for young people.
“We’re there to push the boundaries,” she said. “We’re not there to be so obscure or adversarial. We work very well with the mother party . . . but they may not have the same priorities at this point in our lives.”
According to the Liberal party’s website, 3,272 delegates attended the convention, some of whom are current Carleton University students.
In another attempt to expand their youth support, 75 per cent of the delegates voted in favour of creating a supporter category that will allow citizens other than card-carrying members the ability to elected the next party leader.
Moving away from the idea of labeled members and respecting a fluid sense of supporters will increase support from young citizens, said Papineau MP Justin Trudeau.
By allowing non-members to vote, it will allow them to connect with the party without defining their political stance.
“They’re open to saying yeah . . . I’m willing to commit to connect with them and to hear from them and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll probably vote Liberal,’” Trudeau said.
One of the more radical proposals involved implementing a voting process similar to the American-style primary system, but it didn’t receive the necessary two-thirds majority to pass.
In the end, Mike Crawley was elected as the new national president by six votes over Sheila Copps.
Notable Liberal leaders and politicians such as Stéphane Dion, John Turner and Roméo Dallaire were also in attendance at the convention.
