Student hopes for new desk on Parliament Hill
An Edmonton high school student is taking a real life lesson in political science.
Josh Lund is not only voting in his first election, he’s running for a seat in Parliament.
Lund, who may well be the youngest candidate in the federal campaign, turned 18 on Mar.15, less than two weeks before the writ was dropped.
“I bring a fresh view to politics in Canada,” said the Grade 12 student at Harry Ainley High School.
Lund is the Green party candidate for Edmonton-Spruce Grove.
His mother, and now campaign manager, came up with the idea.
Angie Johnson found herself on the Green party mailing list after signing a petition a couple of years ago.
She discovered the party was looking for candidates to run in a few Edmonton-area ridings.
“He’s always been an advocate for change,” said Johnson. “I thought it’d be something he might want to do.”
Lund said he agreed with the party’s fiscal conservatism and its commitment to the environment.
And after following politics for the last eight years, he believes leadership in Canada has become stagnant.
He wanted to show young people they can make a difference.
“I want to get youth more active in the community and if I can get one more person to vote, even if it's not for me, I've done my job.”
Lund is balancing politics with homework, with campaigning the priority, for now.
Winning over voters is more work than he thought, he said, and his campaign hasn’t been without its bumps.
Lund’s been sick through much of the campaign and occasionally his nerves get the best of him, notably when he began stuttering at the end of television interview.
Lund is realistic about his chances, said his mother. He hopes merely to do better than the Green party candidate last time around.
After all he’s up against Conservative cabinet minister Rona Ambrose, who walked away with nearly 70 per cent of votes cast in the riding in 2008.
Still it’s surreal to have a politician in the family, said Johnson.
“It fades every once in a while if we’re just sitting doing normal family things at home,” she said. “But it comes to life again when the phone rings or he has to run off.”
Once the campaign is over Lund will continue on to university to earn a degree in psychology, but he intends to return to politics when the time is right, he said.
