Bob Rae challenges Concordia students to help re-build the Liberals Party

At the tail end of a five-day tour of Quebec, interim Liberal leader Bob Rae paid a visit to young liberals at Concordia University.

 

About 60 supporters jammed a room in the Hall building at an event organized by Concordia's Political Science Student Association and Liberal

club.

 

The topic of youth engagement came up a few times, as one student asked Rae how the party planned to reach out to students and young people.

Rae answered that they were in the midst of consulting all Canadians on policy issues, including students. The plan is to visit campus clubs and organization for feedback from young people. 

 

But Rae came with a caveat: the onus should be on young people to tell the Grits what they want to see in terms of policy and planning.

 

After Rae and his entourage took off, students questioned Montreal Liberal MPs Justin Trudeau (Papineau), Francis Scarpaleggia (West Island) and Marc Garneau (Westmount) on a variety of topics, including clean water and Canada's involvement in space.

 

The Liberal Party of Canada is in the midst of a modest rise in popularity, according to polls last week. Experts are dubbing it the "Bob Rae" bounce.

 

Over 3,000 delegates attended a recent Liberal policy conference in Toronto. Not only did a student run for policy chief, but about a third of the delegates were young people.