Joshua Hart: Will the Conservatives invest in their next generation?
As young people move right, now is the time for a national youth wing for the Tories, writes Guest Contributor Joshua Hart.
Joshua Hart is the former president of the UBC Conservatives.
For two years, I served as president of the campus conservative club at UBC. During that time, I learned something very valuable: namely, that the talent pools are very ripe and there is a large percentage of young people who are hungry and willing to learn about conservative ideals, and to engage in that intellectual rigour. Notwithstanding this, most of them don’t know the forum to do it or how to get started.
I would argue this unfortunately is not by mistake. We conservatives have no true institutional place left in the academy in Canada as it is today, or in any other major institution of the nation writ large.
The natural instinct of some conservatives might be to look to our southern neighbours and embrace the ideas of those like Chris Rufo. There’s no doubt it’s a very appealing idea to engage in a strong war of hostile takeover of places like universities from the inside to turn them back into institutions which align more with the original missions of the academy. Mr. Rufo can teach us some valuable lessons, but applying them in Canada comes with a unique set of greater challenges. I do think there are major flaws with that approach and how it could be applied to Canada.
At UBC, it would be a struggle to find enough conservatives in any of our faculty lounges that I would be able to count them on just one hand. This seems to be the case at every major university in the country. The left has entrenched itself so much that a hostile takeover of the sort that Rufo has engaged in at the New College of Florida would essentially mean firing almost every professor in the humanities and social sciences and putting major restrictions on the vast majority of those who remain in all other departments.
This would, to say the least, cause a major backlash. Our courts would be quite quick to have a say, and generally the pushback may dissuade any reasonably conservative premier or prime minister, and I do believe it would ultimately go into the dustbin of history as a waste of political capital.
This, to me, would be the worst-case scenario, as it would reaffirm the left in their institutional supremacy and galvanise them to be ever more anti-conservative. So the question arises: how do we avoid this nightmare scenario? And what are our alternatives?
I would like to make the case that we do need to look to our other neighbours, but our intellectual mission should be in different and more discreet ways, but still meaningful.
We have an intellectual talent crisis with regard to conservatism in this country. I don’t think this is because we don’t have any intelligent people who are conservative, but because we have not mentored and fostered those young conservatives to be articulate, strong actors on our campuses and then in society once they’re done at university.
Some attempts are being made to counter this, and I do think they deserve immense credit. For example, the MEI’s Liberty and Leadership programme or the various conservative campus university clubs across this country are doing important work and bringing the gospel of modern conservative ideas to the minds of those willing to listen. Still, I can’t help but think they don’t go quite far enough. Now this isn’t to put the blame on those who are trying to make the situation better. In fact, I think it’s a question we have to ask ourselves as a movement: Is it worth investing in the youth? I would argue unreservedly in the affirmative to that question. Young people are our future, and I would suggest this demographic is more open to voting for us than ever before. The time is right to act on that impulse.
Now, looking at what we can learn from the United States, what we can learn is organisation. Outside of some provinces, most conservative parties in this country lack youth-wings. With the federal convention for the Conservative Party coming up in January, I’d like to raise my hopes a bit at the prospect, but I’ve been let down time and time again. Regardless of the reasons for not having one, I do think it’s a shame that we can’t have an official organisation representing the views of young Canadians in a formal setting. Campus clubs are one thing, but an organisation with more than words behind it, with actual money as well, I know would make all the difference.
A national youth-wing for the Tories will not be a cheap or easy endeavour but worth every dollar put in. As Edmund Burke put it, “the arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth,” and while it may be an uncomfortable commitment for the party to make, it is a necessary one. This is also not a blank cheque for rebellion of Gen Z, it’s a reminder that teaching requires the establishment to listen, not that the young are automatically right.
When it comes to building an effective cultural conservative movement in Canada, we can’t delude ourselves that a Big-C Conservative government will solve all the problems. This has to be a slow and steady build-up. It will take years, and along with those years, endless work and quite a bit of money. The pay-off, though, is that we as a society are able to foster the next generation of leaders to be articulate and open to running in that campus election, to putting themselves forward in the meeting, to pushing back against those policies which are harmful to Canadians, equipped with the facts and training they need to succeed.
When it comes to reclaiming our presence at Canada’s institutions, we have a long and arduous journey ahead, and one that will face immediate backlash from the powers that be. This opposition is to be expected. As a movement, we must continue to strengthen ourselves and remain steadfast in our purpose. Above all, we must not forget our young people. They are open-minded, engaged, and ready to stand with us in shaping a new vision for the future.
Joshua Hart is a fourth-year student studying International Relations at the University of British Columbia, and formerly served as president of the UBC Conservatives.
I feel the need to add a brief addendum here to what has been a flurry of online dissent to this article. Dissent which I will say is based on understandable concerns, but concerns that I believe we can overcome if the youth wing is designed well and in a manner that ultimately seeks to benefit young people.
I purposely tried to stay out of the details in the original article, seeing it more as a theoretical piece: the idea that a youth program of some kind should at least be discussed on its merits, rather than jumping straight into the specifics of delivery. I now believe that was a mistaken approach, as people have jumped to conclusions that were never part of my vision for a youth wing.
I don’t want a “kids’ table,” as some have called it. I agree with those online who see no value in separate conventions, resolutions, hugely wasteful leadership races, etc. But why do we need any of that in a young Conservative program? I think it is entirely possible to have a youth initiative fully integrated within the party. For example, I would not support having a separate convention (we can keep youth delegates at the regular CPC convention to maintain engagement) Instead the main purpose would be to have dedicated full-time staffing of 2–3 younger Conservatives based across the country who can support campus clubs, conduct outreach and training, and execute events. Furthermore, I think it would be helpful for campus clubs to have a direct financial pipeline from national headquarters rather than relying on the EDAs. We are a very wealthy party, and this money would be well spent.
The point I was making in the article isn’t that committed young Conservative activists should be denied access to the “grown-up table” either. Rather, there are many young people who are leaning toward conservatism but still need to be convinced. A big part of my argument is that we should build a strong campus and youth presence aimed at those who are undecided and not just cater to the hard-core activists who are already going to join the EDA board and get involved anyway. If a young conservative wants to dive straight into an EDA, a campaign, etc., they should absolutely go for it.
Now, this may not sound like a typical youth wing — and that’s the point! Why do we need to copy others? We should look at the failings of existing youth wings in Canada, the US, the UK, and elsewhere, strip out those problematic elements, and keep only the best of what works.
I guess I should have known this nuance wouldn’t survive Twitter, but I hope this addendum clears the air for the readers who have made their way to this article.