Prevent the partisan zombie apocalypse
Yes, engage young people in politics, but let them think for themselves, write ANDREW PEREZ and MARK DANCE.
When the Huffington Post reported in June that an assembled crowd of “protesters” at a Justin Trudeau speech on Parliament Hill were paid Conservative party interns sent to the scene by the prime minister’s office, it was tough not to shake one’s head. That the PMO would stoop to such partisan deception, making a mockery of democratic assembly by replacing it with bad political theatre, was assuredly appalling.
But to those who think that young people can make thoughtful and dignified contributions to politics, it was even more grimace-inducing. That someone in the PMO had felt that interns could be used so overtly as props revealed something of the way that young people are often expected to be involved in the politics — as well as something of the sorts of young people who are invited into the political world.
The Conservative party internship program was created shortly after the party was formed in late 2003, and has grown significantly in the past decade. It brands itself explicitly as a training ground for party insiders: “some of Ottawa’s most senior staff members are former Conservative Party interns,” boasts the website.
Conservative interns understandably must be members of the Conservative party, but it is also strongly recommended that applicants submit a “political reference” from a “Conservative Member of Parliament, Senator, Candidate, National Councillor, campus club president, campaign team member, or a director from a Conservative Electoral District Association.”
Because the partisan internship is the gateway to employment on the political side of government, permanent political staffers often end up cut from identical ideological cloth; Canada’s political class is increasingly served by a homogeneous group of young individuals who represent a narrow and hyperpartisan perspective.
And indeed, part of the cynicism that the public feels towards those who work in politics derives from their sense that the backrooms and legislatures are crowded with mindless partisan drones, the sorts of people who would shuffle out for an orchestrated protest with talking points emblazoned on their placards.
But there is no reason that internships have to be exclusively the province of party hacks. Involvement in politics is something that ought to be accessible to anybody willing to engage and to work, even if they have no party stripes across their back.
Recovering the dignity of political work might involve injecting more young non-partisans into the fray, accepting that one need not turn off your critical thinking to turn on your political participation.
Stephen Middleton, an alumnus of the non-partisan Parliamentary Internship Programme and current medical student at Dalhousie University, was far from convinced of the shining truth of any party’s platform when he applied to work on the Hill. By working for government and opposition MPs over the course of 10 months, he set out to get a balanced sense of how the parliamentary world works:
“As a non-partisan, you have access to members’ offices on both sides of the aisle, you have the chance to experience more of the breadth of political thinking on the Hill, and ultimately you can critique and engage without ever having to second-guess yourself for being ‘on-side’.”
Middleton thinks that intimate knowledge of the political process will be helpful in his future work as a doctor: “I’ve chosen to use my experience on the Hill to get to know the role of government on Medicare better and to be more engaged in the conversation about how that system will evolve.”
He adds though that no matter what line of work he finds himself in, experience on the Hill will have broadened his perspective: “There are no careers that aren’t in some way affected by politics.”
Young professionals like Stephen Middleton and non-partisan opportunities like the Parliamentary Internship Programme show that there are alternative routes for involvement in the political arena.
But experiences like this are few and far between. And when most young Canadians think of involvement in politics, the image that comes to mind is standing in line at a PMO-directed manufactured protest.
Our prescribed remedy is thus threefold. Those who are in a position to do so should be willing to fund non-partisan opportunities in politics to help attract the best young talent from diverse fields — not just those who are banking on turning their internship into a career.
Second, elected officials and backroom partisans should acknowledge the value of having a more diverse group of employees on hand and should see that young non-partisans can bring skills and perspectives that might not otherwise be available.
Finally, young people themselves — often accused of apathy and disengagement — should understand that politics is not strictly the jurisdiction of overzealous partisan attack dogs but can also provide space for thoughtful and honest participation by bright citizens from diverse backgrounds.
Former interim Liberal leader Bob Rae once derided dogmatic rookie staff as “25-year-old jihadis.” If the above steps are followed though, young people might avoid becoming partisan fundamentalists while still picking up their political fundamentals. Andrew Perez and Mark Dance have worked for both government and opposition members of Parliament through the non-partisan Parliamentary Internship Programme. Perez is a Toronto-based columnist and political activist. Dance has been a columnist for the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and his political commentary has appeared in several publications.