If Pierre Poilievre wins the next federal election, then he may have Gen Z to thank 

Most young people I talk to just don’t really know what lies ahead, and they haven’t seen the government coming to the table for them in the last several years. They’re looking for a new path forward. For many years, young people parked their votes behind the Liberals or the NDP or the Greens, and nobody seems to have delivered. Especially right now, young people are frustrated and they are willing to give the Conservatives a chance. The party has put forward a strong voice, and they seem determined. Young people are also very determined, and so they kind of identify with that. The Conservative Party has been the one that has come out and said: “We see you’re struggling. You’re not alone. We don’t want you to struggle anymore.” 

And one thing the Liberals often have said lately is: “Oh, it’s just a communications error. People just don’t understand what we’re trying to do. We’re doing good things. They just don’t understand how it’s a good thing.” But if they were doing good things, people wouldn’t be in these situations where they are living in overcrowded housing, or they wouldn’t be grocery shopping at Dollarama. That’s not a communications issue. That’s a policy failure. 

I see people of different ethnicities and genders, of different sexual orientations coming to the Conservative Party. It’s very insincere when people tell you what political party you should belong to. That’s identity politics. Identity politics are a horrible thing that young Conservatives are quite frankly sick and tired of. 

The number one issue [driving young people to the Conservatives] is the cost of living. When you used to go to university, you were more or less promised a good job in your field or something close to it. And that’s not the case for a lot of people.

I have always had more trouble telling other gay people that I’m a Conservative than I have telling Conservative people that I’m gay. The party, to me, has never been anything but welcoming. They don’t care who I am going to get married to someday. They care that I work hard, I’m a team player, and I’m loyal, and that I’m always trying to get smarter. 

If Pierre Poilievre becomes prime minister, he and his cabinet ministers will sit down and say “Young people voted for us. We are going to deliver for them.” I think it’s very reasonable to expect we haven’t seen the last of young people coming to the Conservative Party. Hopefully, we’re just getting started in that regard.

Levi Cottingham is President of the University of Ottawa Campus Conservatives and works as a Legislative Assistant on Parliament Hill.