Take a group of passionate youngsters, stir in motivated grown-ups and serve in a downtown location. The outcome: an awesome event by Youth for Agop at the Rosalies restaurant in Montreal.
The launch event shows how Agop's campaign in Pierrefonds-Dollard is betting on youth involvement to succeed. Judging by the quantity and quality of the turnout, we can expect great achievements from this bunch. Well-blended into the crowd, Senators Housakos and Brazeau were sharing their knowledge, experience and opinion. Closer to home, members of the Pierrefonds-Dollard association board were engaging with the younger guests, receiving feedback and scouting for campaign help. I also had the pleasure of meeting Outremont candidate Rodolphe Husny and Union-Montreal's Barbara Pisani.
The speakers explored several themes, hinging on personal experiences and the importance of young people in politics. This made the event delightfully unusual: traditional rhetoric was momentarily cast aside to reveal a great wealth of insight. One of the pearls, in my opinion, was provided by Agop himself. He reconciled the interests of youth and the older generation, quoting polls that show similarities in both groups' priorities.
This was followed by an unusual, yet true assessment: young people may own the future, but they always need the previous generation to help build it. Agop extends a very supportive hand, as I have had the opportunity to appreciate personally. Other candidates, and the Party, should definitely take notice of his strategy with youth involvement. The event of yesterday proves the value of both empowerment (which most politicians tend to dish out) and realistic discipline, which is often overlooked.
Agop reminded his younger audience that before making a really marked contribution to society, one must have been capable of succeeding in one's own endeavours. He sees, in his youth campaign, the awesome potential, the need for solid ground on which to stand on and the obvious limitations to what young activists can achieve alone.
With such an involved and in-touch candidate, Youth for Agop is set to become a very precious asset for his campaign. I really look forward to the next event and definitely urge all of my friends in DDO and Pierrefonds to lend Agop a hand.
2 comments:
Good crowd for a rainy Monday night. Good food and enlightened company - what more do you want?
Buzz about PM Harper's shining speech against anti-Semitism at the Ottawa conference.
Too bad the (Montreal)Gazette tried to cover the speech in an Iggy "on the one hand, but on the other hand" manner. The National Post really caught the historic nature of Harper's words for a world audience.
Agop is another principled person who can serve as a model for young people.
I went to his site, but unfortunately I have forgotten all my high school French. The pictures helped tell the story though. It's good to see the younger generation getting excited about a candidate. Keep up the good work!
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