Millennials are political sleeping giants
‘An awakening of young people’ may be at hand
DARTMOUTH — Initially when she was asked if she was interested in running for office, Emma Norton said no.
“I couldn’t see myself in government,” the 28-year-old said of being approached by local NDP organizers. “But that’s kind of the problem right now, you don’t see young people, especially young women, who share my beliefs. They’re not well represented in Parliament, or in many levels of government.”
That lack of representation was a big reason behind her eventual decision to run, Norton said. She is now vying for the NDP nomination in DartmouthCole Harbour.
Millennials — people born between the 1980s and early 2000s — account for 27.5 per cent of the Canadian population, which makes them the largest voting bloc in Canada, according to The Nielsen Company.
But millennials are not proportionately represented in elected office. Only one out of 10 Nova Scotia MPs are millennials. In Ontario, the province with the largest number of MPs, only 11 of 122 are millennials.
Sean Fraser, who represents Central Nova is Nova Scotia’s lone millennial MP. He is often approached to provide the youth perspective by fellow parliamentarians. But this could change, according to what the 34-year-old has seen.
“Since the last campaign, there really has been an awakening of young people in terms of their civic engagement,” said Fraser.
Hannah Dawson-Murphy is another prospective nominee, running for the Conservative nomination in West Nova. The 22-year-old didn’t see herself reflected in today’s politicians.
“I mainly decided to run because I grew up without effective politicians, provincial and federally, and I decided that in order to have a new generation of people who are going to be heard and listened to, we need better and more effective politicians running for office,” she said.
Knocking on doors and interacting with people in her riding, Dawson-Murphy has found people are generally open to having a younger candidate. She said people are excited that she’s running and she has received lots of support.
But outside her riding, she has found more pushback. She said while studying at Acadia University, a fellow student spat on her for advocating a pro-life position.
“I faced insults from people who I thought were my friends, and people who I thought I could count on for having their basic respect, but unfortunately, that’s not always the case,” she said.
“I do foresee some difficulty being a young woman and being in political office, having those challenges of being taken seriously,” she added.
For Graciela Hernandez-Cruz, 21, who ran unsuccessfully for the NDP nomination in Ottawa Centretown, seeing other young women in politics, like U.S. congresswoman Alexandra OcasioCortez, was inspiring, and gave her the final push to run.
“The decision stemmed from the need to shake things up a little bit, and that there aren’t that many people like me engaged in this process,” she said.
Norton and Fraser also both named Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez as a prominent figure, who showed young people they could have a realistic chance at running for elected office.
“What you see is people who really care about a progressive agenda, that are flocking towards high energy, sometimes more youthful candidates and campaigns,” said Fraser.
But Hernandez-Cruz said some of the proposals that were part of her platform, such as drug decriminalization and a 100 per cent push to renewable energies, weren’t “palatable” to those who followed party lines. HernandezCruz lost her nomination to a more established, party favourite.
“The party needs to recognize how to move forward, how to bring bolder ideas to the table and remind themselves why they became a party in the first place,” she said. “Frankly, I don’t think any party is offering policies which are shaped for millennials.”
Climate change was also a big reason Norton decided to run. It’s an important issue to her; Norton works for the Ecology Action Centre, an environmental organization based in Halifax.
“We only have so many election cycles left,” she said. “We need to get people in now. I felt the need to step up and grow my comfort zone and be part of a bigger conversation outside of my normal day-to-day work.”
Recently named parliamentary secretary to the environment minister, climate change is also a big part of Fraser’s work.
The Liberal MP said one conversation he had with young climate activists after he was first elected, where they advocated for a fee and dividend model for carbon pollution, contributed to his support for the implementation of a carbon tax.
“It certainly helped frame my perspective, when I was advocating for that kind of a model in Ottawa,” he said.
Fraser said getting involved in the political system this way can be effective.
“Find like-minded people in your community, and kickstart collective action,” he said. “Invite your member of Parliament, get the people who have some ability to influence what decisions are being taken to show up to your meetings, whether they agree or disagree, ask them to show up.”
“Demonstrate to them that you’re not just there to complain, but you’re there to bring ideas to the table,” he added.