IT IS TIME FOR GENERATIONAL RENEWAL

None of us will soon forget the 2015 thrashing our party took, or the structural
deficiencies in campaign decision-making that allowed that to happen. While we
were heartened to see some of these identified in the initial report from our review
committee- we would not be New Democrats if we did not point out that the
problems identified stop short of addressing root causes of our defeat.
It's no tall tale that Young New Democrats worked exceptionally hard in the years
and months leading up to last election, and that many of us were key organizers on
campuses, local campaigns, and national efforts to make sure that we replaced
Harper's government with our first ever federal NDP government.
In the aftermath, there has been a lot of discussion among our members from all
over the country about where our party should go from here. Divergent opinions
about policy, strategy, and messaging abound but one thing is absolutely clear:
Young New Democrats are united in our call for a renewal of our party, and
that starts with a generational renewal at all levels.
For too long we have been asked to don our partisan jerseys and head to campuses,
colleges, and social events to convince our peers that the only party that stands
with their interests is the NDP. We do it because we share in the belief that young
Canadians should be aligning themselves with the only party that cares about their
issues.
So you can imagine our frustration as we watched scores of our peers, many first
time voters, head to the polls on Oct 19th and cast a ballot for a different party.
We feel the responsibility for a failure to inspire our generation to the polls rests
squarely with the uninspired, and problematic platform that many of us were asked
to champion.
We argued against the legalization of marijuana, against the inclusion of other
parties in debates, against our leaders participation in a debate on womens issues,
and defended our non-position on hydraulic fracturing.
Simply put, given what we were selling it's no surprise that our peers were just not
buying it. By the time thanksgiving had rolled around we were gasping for
something inspiring, but nothing came, we were abandoned and forgotten.
Most of us joined the NDP because we have strongly held beliefs about issues like
climate change, workers rights, women's rights and, supporting peace across the

globe. Many of us are policy experts in our own right, and are some of Canada's
best activists on these issues too.
None of us were consulted, or even brought into the discussion when it came to
platform development, or for that matter, the out-of-touch materials that we were
asked to distribute on campuses. For two years we were tasked with to drum up
support for "dropping interest on credit card fees" while other parties campaigned
directly on issues that mattered to youth.
That's why we think in the light of such a disastrous central campaign, that we
need to take a hard look at renewing not only the campaign team, but the way
which we run campaigns. In an era of massive popular movements energizing
progressives across Europe and North America it is time for the NDP to boldly
and unapologetically stake our ground as the party of the left.
In the aftermath of the election we consulted with youth on campuses, from our
provincial wings, and constituency associations about what they felt needed to be
done to better support youth in our party. We even had an opportunity to share
many of these concerns with the election review committee in our official debrief
just last month. We were surprised to see a final report, which although honest and
open about the shortcomings of the campaign, failed to acknowledge the concerns
of our peers. We just do not have the luxury of repeating the same mistakes again
2019. To learn and grow from our defeat we must move swiftly and decisively to
strengthen and grow our party.
That starts in Edmonton at our convention, where we will be attending and
encouraging all Young New Democrats from across the country to support a new
direction, and a new style of leadership. One that starts from the bottom up, that
reflects the concerns, and priorities of our membership and that includes youth at
the centre of our party once again.
We're too experienced, driven, and passionate about realizing a progressive future
for Canada to be simply used as window dressing for promotional materials. Our
generation is about to inherit incredible political, environmental, and logistical
challenges and we know we can't bet our future on Liberal or Conservative
governments to get it right.
With hope and respect, The New Democratic Youth of Canada