Heading into the home stretch of the federal election, there has been much discussion about how to engage young voters who are increasingly tuning out the political process. It’s an issue first-year U of T law student Liam McHugh-Russell understands all too well-so he resolved to do something about it. But where most might be content to pin a button on their jacket or erect a lawn sign, McHugh-Russell went one further: he decided to run for office.
“I’ve worked as an activist and an advocate for a long time,” said McHugh-Russell, 25, on how he decided to run for the NDP in his home riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. “When I heard that the Liberals were thinking of running a pro-war candidate who’d been out of the country as long as I’d been alive, I felt it was important to make my voice heard.”
McHugh-Russell is up against Liberal Michael Ignatieff, a well-known historian and journalist who was recently appointed as a visiting professor in human rights policy and senior fellow of the Munk Centre for International Studies at U of T. Ignatieff’s return to Canada after years in the U.S. (most recently as a professor at Harvard University) and first foray into the political arena have turned the spotlight on the usually quiet suburban Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
The other contenders in the riding are John Capobianco (Conservative Party), Phil Ridge (Green Party), Cathy Holiday (Communist Party), and Janice Murray (Marxist-Leninist Party).
While McHugh-Russell insisted his focus hasn’t been on the differences between himself and Ignatieff, he wastes no time in setting out the contrasts between his campaign and that of his high-profile opponent. For one, Ignatieff was perceived to have been “parachuted” into the Liberal candidacy despite opposition from the local riding association, whereas McHugh-Russell (a longtime resident of the area) faced a tight race against two other NDP hopefuls in order to get the nod to run for the party.
McHugh-Russell credited the throngs of supporters he attracted to the nomination meeting for helping him win the nomination on the second ballot. Having made it past that hurdle, he said he’s not just running to get his feet wet in politics-he’s in it to win.
“Absolutely. We think we’ve got a good shot. People from across the riding have called us and said, ‘We’re disappointed with the undemocratic process that brought us the Liberal candidate. He hasn’t lived in the riding and doesn’t represent our concerns.’ They’re excited that someone with youth and energy is running to represent this riding in Ottawa and make their community a better place,” McHugh-Russell said.
He may be young and still in school, but McHugh-Russell is no political neophyte-the co-chair of the youth wing of the Ontario NDP, he also sits on the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Under-30 committee, was appointed by the provincial government to the Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP)’s appeals board, and he volunteers with a law clinic that is fighting to get AIDS drugs to Africa.
McHugh-Russell’s activism began during his undergrad days as a math student at the University of Waterloo, where he did advocacy work with his student union for improved post-secondary education. The NDP’s proposals for education and their firm stance against the war in Iraq attracted him to the party.
“I always felt like my voice mattered in the party; I always felt like I was respected despite my youth,” McHugh-Russell said.
Getting young people interested in politics means taking their concerns (particularly in regards to education) seriously and following through with concrete action and policies, he noted.
“I think at the core of the crisis in post-secondary education is the undermining of funding, the cutting of $4 billion from the (federal) education transfer (to the provinces). I think (the NDP’s) commitment to reinvesting that funding is at the core of ensuring that the provinces have enough money to provide high-quality education without putting a huge stone of debt around students’ necks,” McHugh-Russell said.
Education aside, McHugh-Russell says he’s focusing mainly on issues important to residents of his riding-namely, Canada’s place in the world, community safety, air quality, and providing a dignified retirement for seniors (the riding is made up of a largely older constituency).
Juggling pounding the pavement of his riding stumping for votes and hitting the books for his U of T law classes has been tough, McHugh-Russell admits, but he’s enjoying the challenge.
“Lots of students have huge amounts of responsibility outside of school; I’m just glad I have the choice to do something to give back to the community. I had exams, and they might have gone better if I hadn’t been doing this…” he trailed off, laughing. “But you know what? It’s worth it.”
In fact, he noted, his studies go hand-in-hand with his political aspirations.
“I still find math very interesting, but my goal in my career is to try to make things better. That’s why I chose law,” McHugh-Russell says. “I’m running (for office) for the same reasons.”
He’s also following a family tradition: his mother Margaret McHugh ran (unsuccessfully) for the NDP in Etobicoke-Lakeshore during the 2004 federal election.
McHugh-Russell isn’t the only Ontario university student running in the Jan. 23 federal election. Two other U of T students have joined the race (see profiles on previous page), and Western student Steven Maynard is also running for the NDP in the riding of London North-Centre.
While McHugh-Russell is pleased to be an inspiration to youth looking for alternatives to the malaise currently marking federal politics (he beams that two 10-year-olds were volunteering in his campaign office because “they were excited about a young person working to represent even them”), he’s buoyed in turn by the young people he talks to on the campaign trail and his fellow students on campus.
“The best thing about U of T is the diversity of its students and their commitment, not just to the academy, but also the community. I think the students are its power, what makes it great,” he said.
He knows that there are those who will dismiss him because of his age, or see the race in Etobicoke-Lakeshore as hopelessly imbalanced. But running for office isn’t about which candidate monopolizes the headlines or has a marquee name, McHugh-Russell points out-it’s supposed to be about who can best represent his or her riding.
“It’s not about David versus Goliath, or the size of our campaign,” McHugh-Russell smiles. “Some people say, ‘You have a young face,’ and I say, ‘That’s not what matters-what matters is my commitment to the issues.’ And once they hear me talk and answer their questions, they’re pretty comfortable that I could do a good job representing them in Ottawa.”
The irony of two U of T-ers facing off in the same riding certainly isn’t lost on McHugh-Russell.
“It’s an interesting dimension of the campaign-the cynical, old professor versus the idealistic student who believes he can do better!”
