Orphée Dubé-Gervais expects to spend a lot of time studying on the train in the coming weeks.
asserted
Gervais → expect → weeks
Dubé-Gervais is one of several candidates balancing university studies with door knocking, attending partisan events and seeking to win over voters ahead of the Oct. 5 Quebec election.
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Gervais → balance → election
Candidates from three parties tell The Canadian Press that running requires careful planning but comes with the rewards of participating in the democratic process.
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running → tell → process
Dubé-Gervais says she’s used to a busy schedule with a job, classes and community engagement, including a position as a coordinator with a school-based legal clinic that supports people experiencing homelessness.
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that → say → homelessness
She believes she can manage this newest commitment by taking a break from her job and spending less time on social activities.
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she → believe → activities
“I go to class, but I’ll spend less time on the university campus.
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I → go → campus
I do my readings on public transit or late at night at home, but I have less time to participate in student life,” the Québec solidaire candidate said.
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candidate → do → life
Clément Mireault, a 19-year-old Coalition Avenir Québec candidate and accounting sciences student, also has his schedule figured out.
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schedule → have → ?
He spends his morning in class at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières campus south of Montreal.
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He → spend → Montreal
Early afternoons are for lunch and studying, then at around 3 p.m., he heads out to door-knock around the La Pinière riding south of Montreal.
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he → head → Montreal
Some days, mostly when it rains, he tries to fit in a few hours of working for the party.
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he → rain → party
Mireault, who said he has already knocked on over 1,000 doors, says people who answer are often surprised at his age.
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who → say → age
“Often people find that I’m young, but I explain and they often agree that it’s important to have young people in politics because we bring a different vision, and we represent an age group that is under-represented at the National Assembly,” he said in an interview at a party office.
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he → find → office
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Despite his age, he’s already a seasoned Coalition Avenir Québec member.
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he → get → age
Like Dubé-Gervais, he took his membership card at 16, which is the minimum age.
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which → take → 16
Recently, he’s served as secretary-treasurer of the party’s youth wing, where he says he has seen first-hand how young people can make a difference.
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people → serve → difference
“We make propositions to the government, and they listen to us,” he said, noting that the government’s ban on cellphones in class and the development of a museum dedicated to Quebec history both originated with the youth wing.
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ban → make → wing
Naima Indira Som, who is 26, got involved in formal politics about a year ago.
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who → get → politics
After jobs such as working as an insurance adviser and teaching children with autism, she decided she wanted to be “at the forefront” of developing solutions to help people.
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she → work → people
Indira Som, who is studying international relations and international law at UQAM, said she burst into tears the first time she saw her election posters advertising her as the Quebec Liberal candidate for the Pointe-aux-Trembles riding in east-end Montreal.
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she → study → Montreal
“I cried because it’s really a memorable experience and I think every young person should live it at least once in their life,” she said in a phone interview.
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she → cry → interview
Her campaign has been filled with special moments, including being invited for coffee by a woman in her 90s.
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campaign → fill → 90s
All three student candidates are facing tough challenges in their ridings.
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candidates → face → ridings
Mireault’s riding is a Liberal stronghold, while Dubé-Gervais is in a riding that has flipped between the Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois.
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that → flip → Québec
Indira Som’s opponents include Chantal Rouleau, a longtime Coalition Avenir Québec minister who has represented the riding since 2018.
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who → include → 2018
However, Indira Som rejects the notion that student candidates are being forced to pay their dues by running in tough-to-win ridings.
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candidates → reject → ridings
“I think it’s the same challenge (for everyone),” she said.
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she → think → everyone
“You have to be out on the ground all the time.
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You → have → ground
You have to do your door-to-door.”
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You → have → door
In the 2011 federal election, Laurin Liu was one of several McGill students who were elected as part of the so-called “orange wave” in Quebec that propelled the NDP to Official Opposition status.
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that → elect → status
In a phone interview from New York, Liu said her unexpected win forced a “major lifestyle change,” including postponing her studies as she moved to Ottawa.
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she → say → Ottawa
However, she believes that students are an asset to a legislature.
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students → believe → legislature
“I think students coming from a campus environment are primed to be curious and to ask questions,” she said.
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she → think → questions
She also believes young people add diversity and can be seen as more approachable by their constituents.
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people → believe → constituents
Liu returned to her studies after her term and completed a master’s degree in human rights.
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Liu → return → rights
The Quebec provincial parties did not provide an official tally of how many students are running in the election.
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students → provide → election
The Liberals said they had 12 candidates under the age of 30, and the Coalition Avenir Québec said it had 26, including about 10 students.
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it → say → students
Mireault, Dubé-Gervais and Indira Som are all aware that they’re part of a demographic with a lower rate of voting.
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they → ’re → voting
All of them believe that one of the keys to engaging people of all ages is talking directly to them about issues that matter, such as the cost of living.
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that → believe → living
Indira Som’s message to other young people is to not wait until they feel perfectly ready before getting into politics.
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they → wait → politics
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
