All three candidates for the Alberta Liberal leadership said they want to get more young people involved in the party as part of their overall plan to attract more members.

So, SEE Magazine sat down with six young Liberals, all post-secondary students, who watched the leadership race closely.

The panel ended up being surprisingly one-sided, at least when it came to the candidates. MacEwan students Tim Smith and Laura Young both volunteered for Dave Taylor. Vanish Nanda was undecided for much of the race, but ended up supporting Taylor because of his communications skills.

But no one else in the group wanted to support any one candidate publicly. Daniel Larson, one of the co-ordinators of the Young McClung Liberal youth group in the west end, would only go so far as to say that he didn’t support Taylor.

It shouldn’t be that surprising that Taylor enjoys strong support among the college set. He nabbed endorsements from the four presidents of the Young Liberal campus clubs, as well as the provincewide young Liberals group.

There was, however, plenty of discussion on the party’s inclusion of young people and its overall goals. Here’s some of what they had to say about their expectations, what they think Albertans want, and the nuts and bolts of the party.
 

SEE Magazine: Did the party clear up any of the questions about the name and direction of the party through the convention and the leadership race?

Daniel Larson: I think more questions were raised than anything else. Nothing was established. There were a lot of workshops, and it was a good time for people to express their views, but nothing came out. There was a lot of bickering. Because it was happening at the time of the leadership race, it adds so much more partisanship to the discussion.... All of this internal bickering, it’s not good.

SEE: Has the party changed significantly?

Jacquie Lycka: Not yet, because there isn’t a leader yet. Once there is, we’ll have to see how that leader redirects the party and presents it to the public. I really don’t think there will be a lot of policy changes. They’ve only talked about how to present the package.

Avnish Nanda: One thing that’s going to be a big factor in the Liberal Party’s chances next time around, and it’s not in their hands, is the global financial crisis. If the price of oil drops way under the budgeted amount, there’s no savings, no contingency plan. If Dave Taylor positions himself as a fiscal conservative who can manage money... If shit goes bad, I can definitely see things changing. But that’s a lot of ifs.

SEE: Do you expect the organization to change after the new leader is declared?

JL: Yeah, there has to be change from within the party.... Daniel and I run a youth group, and there is no funding for youth whatsoever from the province. It’s shocking because they want us to be involved, but they are not giving us the tools to be involved.

AN: I don’t know. I think historically, the party has done a good job of involving youth. In the last campaign, we did a lot online. Granted, it was all volunteer, but I thought it showed that the party was willing to listen to us.... The Dave Taylor campaign had a lot of youth in it. The campaign manager [Corey Hogen] is under 30.

Tim Smith: I’m supporting Dave Taylor and one of the reasons I am supporting him is because he doesn’t even really need to reach out to young people. Young people are inspired by him.... He’s the only contender who came to Camp Wanna Be Free, which is a young Liberals camp for Western Canada.... He’s kept in touch with a lot of us. He’s offered us positions on his campaign. He’s met with us every time he’s come to Edmonton.

SEE: As you were thinking about who to vote for, were you thinking about who would win the next election, or was it about who was going to build the party?

DL: I feel that the option should be both.... The presence and feeling [of the new leader] will also go a long way to rebuilding the party, which will hopefully result in a win.

Salem Al-Ahmed: What about the long term? I think our best choice would be in aiming for the long term.

SEE: If the next leader doesn’t win or gain seats, should they step down?

DL: Yes, definitely.

Laura Young: I disagree. I think it’s going to take more than four years to build up the party. I think we need a long-term strategy, and that they should be given at least two terms.

TS: I don’t know. If he loses seats...

AN: It depends on how he loses. If it’s personally his fault, then okay. But if there’s a [federal] coalition or something like that and any progressive brand in Alberta is crushed, that’s different.

DL: Well, I’m just saying that we have three and a bit years until the next election. That’s a good chunk of time to build the party. If in the upcoming election, we don’t gain any seats or we lose, if the Alberta public is not getting the message, then we have to change ourselves beyond what we’ve done.

SEE: At the beginning of the race, there was lots of talk about exploring democracy and exploring the party. Did that come to anything? It seems like this group is talking more about the nuts and bolts of the party, and not values.

TS: Well, I think we need to look at the nuts and bolts of our party.

DL: The values of the party will remain the same.

JL: The actual policy of the party is not going to change with the leadership.

TS: I wouldn’t say that. I think it will change. We should look at our policy and ask if it works for Alberta. Is government car insurance something we want to continue to put on the table? Or do we want to side with private industry on that one?

SEE: Are these policy discussions that have already happened? Is there a clear direction for the party?

AN: Over the past couple years I think that some people have taken the mindset that it’s not about a grand vision, it’s about beating the Conservatives, getting practical, and being able to sell our message to mainstream Albertans. That’s attacking the Progressive Conservative base.... Seriously, in the last election, a majority of Albertans said one of their top concerns was the environment, and the Conservatives have the worst environment record. Health care was a priority, and the Alberta Medical Association said that the Alberta Liberals had the best policy. The outcome of the last election really showed that it’s not policy Albertans want, it’s a personal connection. They need to be drawn to you by a leader.

LY: I still don’t think Albertans really liked [Premier Ed] Stelmach.... We’re not saying get rid of [policy]. We are all from the same party. Policy-wise, we have similar ideas.

DL: Policy is of no use if you can’t act on it. If you can’t be enough of a power in the legislature to get those things on the floor, then there’s
no use.