I attended the founding meeting of the Conservative Party of Canada for the electoral district of Kingston and the Islands. I would estimate that approximately 250 showed up to establish the new organization.
I met a lot of former members of the Progressive Conservative party and former members of the Canadian Alliance. Everyone seemed enthusiastic to start the process of making this Conservative Party of Canada a veritable force against the Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken and his Liberal leader, Paul Martin.
During the meeting, I was nominated and subsequently elected to the board of directors. A couple of other Queen’s students were also elected to the board along with a student from St. Lawrence college and two others from RMC. I summarized my enthusiasm for this showing of youth interest in our party during my short address to the members. I pledged to get more youth involved as I believe that this party does represent many of the concerns of youth voters. I am confident that my belief is shared by the soon-to-be-declared leadership candidate Belinda Stronach. While not much is known politically about this contender, she has been a motivator of youth to get involved within the political process. Her “As Prime Minister” essay contest is testament to this very fact.
Finally, I learned something else at the meeting. While older people may be hesitant to accept the political involvement of youth, once they know that you are very energetic and enthusiastic they have nothing but sincere encouragement and enthusiasm themselves.