‘Accidental MPs’ are all ready for next election
After the 2011 elections, media pundits had a blast mocking Quebec’s “accidental MPs:” a halfdozen 20-somethings who found themselves swept into office in the wake of then-NDP leader Jack Layton’s “Orange Wave.”
The NDP had never had much success in Quebec, but Layton had made serious inroads, thanks in part to his Quebec lieutenant and eventual successor as leader, Thomas Mulcair. Despite the newfound interest, there were ridings where the party had failed to find a strong local candidate, so party activists and volunteers were being recruited.
One of those so-called “paper candidates” was still in his teens — at 19 Pierre-Luc Dusseault became the youngest person ever elected an MP in Canada — and several were university students who had not campaigned nor in some cases visited the ridings they were now representing. One had famously taken off to Las Vegas during the campaign to mark her birthday.
But four years later, all of these “accidental MPs” are running again, and the consensus seems to be that they have done a good job representing their constituents.
“Given how we were elected, I think there was a lot of hesitation from people as to whether we could do the work, and those worries were legitimate,” said Matthew Dubé, who was a day shy of 23 when he was elected in ChamblyBorduas and is now running as the incumbent in the redrawn riding of Beloeil-Chambly.
“It was up to us to show we could build connections with other MPs and in our communities to get things done, and I dare say we’ve done that,” he said.
While the younger members of the NDP caucus have not been high-profile, they have been speaking up in the House of Commons, introducing private members’ bills and motions, and getting to know their constituents. And the spate of rookie gaffes many predicted would punish the party has not materialized.
In fact, some of the 20-somethings have held important positions in the party and managed to bring about change in legislation, even in opposition.
For example, Ruth Ellen Brosseau, 27 when elected, was deputy agriculture critic and vice-chair of the national caucus. She is running again in Berthier-Maskinongé. And Dusseault, the so-called “Baby of the House,” has chaired two parliamentary committees and acted as deputy critic on democratic reform. He is running again in Sherbrooke.
Dubé himself was named the party’s critic on youth issues and sport, and he chaired the party’s youth caucus in 2013.
Like many of the NDP members from Quebec, Dubé got the shock of his life when he found out he had won in 2011.
But he likes to note that just because some of the younger MPs were surprised to win doesn’t mean they couldn’t do the job.
Dubé was completing his final year of his degree in political science and history, and planning to go to law school, when he put his name forward in 2011. At McGill he co-chaired the university’s NDP club and was elected chairman of the Young New Democrats of Quebec. He was volunteering for Mulcair’s campaign when party members asked him to put his name on the ballot in Chambly-Borduas, his home riding.
On the night of the election, he was filling in for a scrutineer who had called in sick in Mulcair’s Outremont riding. As the results were coming in, he could feel his phone vibrating, but scrutineers were not supposed to look at their phones while votes were being counted.
“When we finished I stepped out and looked at my phone and realized it was my mom and brother, who were at the Rialto watching the results and texting me over and over. My mom’s texts were like, ‘Where the heck are you? You’re winning!’ and then ‘You’re still winning!’ and then, ‘You’ve won!’
While Dubé realizes he was in the right place at the right time, he bristles when people suggest he was just “lucky.”
“I’m always iffy about that word. I guess I do count myself as lucky, but I didn’t fall into this by pure accident. We were active with the party, we were passionate, we were volunteering.”
Laurin Liu, who became the youngest female member of parliament in Canada’s history when she was elected in the Rivière-desMille-Îles riding when she was just 21, agrees with Dubé that luck was only part of the story.
Liu had been involved with the NDP for years before she found herself elected. She had started an NDP club at her Cégep (Jean de Brébeuf ) and while at McGill she became co-president of the NDP youth wing in Quebec.
“I never thought about putting my name forward. I was involved with the NDP because I felt it reflected my personal values, but I had no ambition to run for office,” she admits.
The campaign was during her exam period, and she was already volunteering for two candidates, so she had no time to campaign for her own seat.
On election night, she was working as a scrutineer at a polling station in Mulcair’s Outremont riding.
She had only a few weeks to get over the shock, and then she was on the Hill.
Liu, who is from Pointe Claire and fluent in French, English and Cantonese, quickly got to work on several issues, some inspired by her constituents’ needs, others by her conviction that youth and women’s issues needed a voice on the Hill.
She introduced three private member’s bills; one on workplace protection for unpaid interns, one demanding easier access to the guaranteed income supplement for seniors, and one protecting property owners from unreasonable mortgage prepayment penalties.
Liu is campaigning for herself for the first time, but she feels confident.
“I think we have proven the critics wrong. A lot of young MPs have been very effective in parliament and very present in their ridings.”
Dubé, meanwhile, says it will be a long and gruelling campaign, but things are looking very good so far.
“When the response at the door is what it is, it helps buoy you up for a marathon. I’m not seeing any buyer’s remorse. They are saying not only do they not regret (the swing to the NDP), but they will do it again. The response is very, very positive.
“I am hoping we have got rid of the perception that people in their 20s and 30s can’t be ready,” he said.