Youth Movement in Canada

In Canada, the Students Rule. Really.
Chronicle of Higher Education
TWEED
May 4, 2011, 3:32 pm

How green are the New Democratic Party’s new members of Parliament from Quebec? So green that—after briefly meeting the press on Tuesday under the watchful eyes of party handlers—the rookie MP’s were whisked away and will remain incommunicado while they learn how to behave as parliamentarians, receive instruction on the proper handling of the news media, and complete their salary paperwork.

According to Canada’s National Post, nine college students and three others with ties to academe were elected to Parliament from Quebec, raising the New Democratic Party from just one seat to 58. Some of them will even have to do a crash course in conversational French.

So who are these newbies?

Pierre-Luc Dusseault, at age 19, goes into the record books as the youngest person ever to be elected to Parliament in Canada, The Globe and Mail reports. He’s just finished his first year of applied politics at the University of Sherbrooke and says he knew he could win because it was important for young people to be in Parliament. He’s putting his studies aside for a while to work full time for the people he now represents.

The Montreal Gazette reports that five of the students elected were from McGill University, which is almost certain to be a record. While their competitors were working the campaign trail, the students were working on their final exams.

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