Four generation-Z Liberal MPs are banding together to bring issues important to young Canadians before their caucus in what one says is part of an effort to “bring back” the youth vote to the party.

“We understand all issues are also youth issues, and we just want to be able to bring back that youth vote back into the party,” said 23-year-old Amandeep Sodhi, who was elected to represent Brampton Centre, Ont., on April 28.

“We want our youth to know that there’s people that are their age that are fighting for the same rights that they want.”

Sodhi is part of a Liberal youth caucus with three other first-time MPs: Fares Al Soud (Mississauga Centre, Ont.), Jake Sawatzky (New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, B.C.), and Tatiana Auguste (Terrebonne, Que.).

Being a young politician comes with its challenges, said Sodhi, who estimates about 30 per cent of the people she meets are hesitant about taking her seriously. 

“You can kind of feel those vibrations off of them, where they might be thinking, ‘Oh, she’s just 23 … what does she know about fighting for the country? What does she know about policy?'” said Sodhi, adding she fights those impressions through conversations as she thinks she brings an important voice to the Hill.

“There’s nobody better to represent youth than a young person themselves.”

The following interview has been edited for length, style, and clarity. Read more on the Liberal youth caucus in Politics This Morning.

You jumped into the political fray at a very young age. What went through your mind when you found out that you won the election?

“When I found out that I won the election, it honestly felt a little bit surreal. I had a couple of hours where I was in this weird state of shock, and I couldn’t believe that this was actually real life. But shortly after, I was really, really happy and excited because I got to finally be a part of the change that I want to see in the world, and I was ready and willing to do this for myself and for our future generations.”

You attended the first session of Parliament this spring. What was that experience like?

“Attending the first session back in June was, once again, everything just feels surreal when it happens for the first time. Sitting in my chair in the Chamber, it was truly an honouring and very humbling experience. When you sit there, you realize that you are one out of 343 people in all of Canada that get to experience being a Member of Parliament. It also was just very exciting to see other Members of Parliament that you once used to see on TV, but now you’re shaking hands with them and meeting them and talking to them. So it felt great. It was a good experience.”

Since you’re one of the youngest MPs, what has the reception been like in your community, among your constituents? Do you feel like people see you as this young person and not necessarily as a serious MP? 

“It’s been kind of shaky. I think, overall, I’d say about 70 per cent is a very, very good response. People are happy and excited to see that younger generations have come forward to do something better for our country. A lot of the issues that we’re dealing with together nationally are issues that youth are also affected with, and so there’s nobody better to represent youth than a young person themselves. So 70 per cent has been a very, very good response, very receptive, very welcoming. 

“And then I’d say there’s about 30 per cent whether that’s within caucus, or constituents, the riding, within the party doesn’t really matter where—they’re kind of shaky. You can kind of feel those vibrations off of them, where they might be thinking, ‘Oh, she’s just, she’s just 23, what does she know about fighting for the country? What does she know about policy? What change does she want to make?’ But overall, it’s been good. And within that 30 per cent I feel like through conversation, I have been able to sway a couple of them into being more so on my side. I think it’s just a matter of getting comfortable and familiar with those people, and introducing yourselves to them so they can get to know you better.”

What has it been like to be part of the Liberal caucus and attending meetings?

“Being part of the Liberal caucus has been great. I started going to a lot of Liberal events with my dad at the age of like 10, 11 years old. So I’ve been brought up with a lot of Liberal values and beliefs. It feels amazing to sit in on the caucus meetings to discuss national priorities, from coast to coast to coast of Canada. It’s a privilege, but it also helps fuel this fire inside of me to create a better nation, not just for the constituents in my riding, but for Canadians all over Canada. You see a lot of people, a lot of other MPs, that have that same fire within them. You get to see a lot of the hard work that everybody is doing in different regions of the nation. So it feels good.”

What caucus members have you been getting along with the best; people who have been very supportive?

“I would honestly love to give a shout out to my Brampton caucus, to Sonia Sidhu, Maninder Sidhu, Ruby Sahota, and Shafqat Ali. Being a member from Brampton and having those four people around me to support me—not just through my journey as a new MP, but throughout the election and during the time that I was just a candidate—it’s been great. The support from them has been immense. They’ve all kind of created this environment for me where I can go to them in any way, and ask them a question without judgment, and they’ll be there for me to answer and to help guide me. 

“There’s obviously our youth caucus that we’ve now formed with myself, Fares from Mississauga, Jake from B.C., and Tatiana from Quebec, and that’s been really good, as well. I mean, to have people that are your age and understand what you’re going through—them also being first time MPs.”

There are four members in the youth caucus currently. What is its purpose, what is that caucus is trying to achieve?

“So our main objective is to identify issues that are affecting our youth and how we’re going to navigate those issues. And second to that: how are we going to bring youth voters back into the party? Because we see that throughout the years, the numbers have gradually gone down for the amount of people that are voting, that are considered youth. We understand all issues are also youth issues, and we just want to be able to bring back that youth vote back into the party. And we want our youth to know that there’s people that are their age that are fighting for the same rights that they want, as well.”

How are you making these voices heard within the caucus, and making sure that they are being taken seriously?

“One thing that we all do individually within our ridings is we’ll host meetings with young Liberals, or youth in general. Some of us have our youth councils already set up where we do bring up issues that are around youth. What we then do is we reconvene as a youth caucus and talk about those issues that we each discussed in our own ridings. We will then create an agenda, kind of like a memorandum, and we will bring it up at national caucus. So every week we have national caucus where every single caucus gets to bring up what they had discussed over the last week, or what they will be discussing, and then that is when we will introduce that stuff in front of the prime minister, in front of the national caucus chair, and in front of the entire Liberal caucus. And that’s how we ensure their voices are being brought up at a national level.”

What’ s your view on all the government priorities that we’ve heard so far? Do you feel like the cost of living issue is getting slightly lost in this and the youth?

“No. We have an amazing minister of finance who helps combat the issue of cost of living. I think even before we broke for summer, we did a few things that were helping with the cost of living. So we had eliminated the consumer carbon tax, we had expanded the dental care benefit, and we’ve provided tax cuts. So that’s just a few things that we’ve done in the span of a month-and-a-half that Parliament was sitting. But we understand and we know that there’s more work that needs to be done. So, personally, I’m excited to see what’s upcoming in the next few months that Parliament will be sitting. But within a short period of time, we did introduce three major things that are putting more money back into the pockets of Canadians. And moving forward, I know that there will be more incentives as well.

What part of this job are you still adjusted to, that you might still be finding it challenging?

“A big thing that I’m still finding challenging, actually, is figuring out how committees work. So each member is placed on a committee that they’re responsible for. And I think that’s just a little bit of a harder adjustment. It’s only the first week back, so I’m sure within some time, we’ll get to ease into it. But so far, it’s the committee work has been kind of the most challenging.”

What are you most looking forward to with this session of Parliament?

“Bringing change for Canadians, whether that’s through immigration, crime, affordability—it’s making Canadians happy. And crime is a big issue, so I’m excited to see the legislation that comes forward, I understand how important it is for Canadians to feel safe and comfortable within their homes, within the streets that they live in, so I think those would be the two major things that I’m most looking forward to.”

Climate change is something that a lot of young people are passionate about. How do you feel about the federal government‘s rollback of some of the climate policies this year? Whether it’s the consumer carbon tax, the EV mandate being delayed. And there are talks about the emissions gap. 

“I’m going to give you a very short answer. I haven’t developed how I feel about that. I’m still kind of weighing out the pros and cons. I’m still listening to constituents and reading up on the policies because they’re fairly new. I don’t have too much of an input on that that I can give you. But I know eliminating the consumer carbon tax was the right thing to do. I heard from a lot of people that it was very, very damaging. I’m happy that with doing that gas prices went down as putting more money into the pockets of Canadians. But just recently, there has been a clean fuel tax regulation that has been implemented. We’re receiving some backlash on that, so I’m still trying to kind of solidify my stance on where, where I am with that.”

A version of this piece first appeared in Politics This Morning, your go-to source for insider news, analysis, and updates on where all the key political players are that day. Get more insider coverage directly to your inbox from The Hill Times’ editor Peter Mazereeuw and reporter Riddhi Kachhela in this subscriber-only daily newsletter. Sign up here.

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The Hill Times

 

Riddhi Kachhela is a news reporter covering all things politics for The Hill Times' daily subscriber newsletter, Politics This Morning. She studied journalism at Goldsmiths University of London, U.K., and worked as a reporter for local papers in London before moving to Canada. She has also previously dabbled in screenwriting and film production, and is a qualified chartered accountant. See all stories BY RIDDHI KACHHELA