Amandeep Sodhi is something of an anomaly in Ottawa’s halls of power. The 23-year-old is decades younger than most of her colleagues in the House of Commons.
“ I had people from every single different angle telling me that I’m crazy,” said the Liberal MP, reflecting on her decision to run in the Ontario riding of Brampton Centre this year.
“[They said] I am running for the wrong reasons right now, that I should be focused on doing something else because I’m going to ruin my early twenties and the life that I have ahead of me.
“ I think the biggest thing was just kind of like … blocking out the haters, right? I did that and now I’m here.”
Sodhi isn’t the only Liberal MP born in the 21st century either. Along with newly elected MPs Fares Al Soud, Tatania Auguste and Jake Sawatzky, Sodhi has formed a Liberal Youth Caucus to advance the interests of young Canadians.
“[Government] rolls out housing policy or foreign policy or health care or whatever it may be, and it’s all fantastic because it serves Canadians as a whole,” said Al Soud, who represents the Ontario riding of Mississauga Centre.
“But I think young people want to know how we as a government are serving them specifically. How are we feeding into their day-to-day lives today?”
Youth engagement
The young Liberal MPs come to office with varying levels of work and political experience.
Sodhi graduated with a political science degree in 2023 and worked briefly as a legal assistant before running to represent Brampton Centre. The riding opened up after then-incumbent Shafqat Ali became the Liberal candidate for the newly formed riding of Brampton—Chinguacousy Park.
Al Soud, aged 25, is also a 2023 political science university graduate. But he held a series of staff positions at Transport Canada, the Prime Minister’s Office and Fisheries and Oceans Canada before running in Mississauga Centre.
Sodhi and Al Soud both say they were motivated to run by a desire to make life better for Canadians, especially economically marginalized ones.
Liam Olsen is national chair of the Liberal Party’s youth wing, which coordinates youth participation in politics. During the 2025 election, he led youth volunteer operations across 23 campuses and 12 provinces — all “during final exam season,” his LinkedIn page notes.
Olsen says the four members of the Liberal Youth Caucus serve as examples for youth who might otherwise be skeptical about their ability to have an impact.
“These are people who are actually in positions of influence doing things,” he said, noting he hopes more young people will envision themselves “in the system actually making change.”
None of the four are part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet. But like other backbench MPs, they sit on parliamentary committees, which study bills, scrutinize government spending and hear from witnesses. Sawatzky sits on the finance committee, Sodhi on immigration, Al Soud on heritage and Auguste on veterans affairs.
In addition to mobilizing support for legislation that could benefit youth, the caucus aims to communicate the executive’s priorities to young people across the country.
“One of the things that we really want to focus on as a youth caucus, is giving that opportunity to cabinet ministers [and] parliamentary secretaries to really come to us and say, ‘I’m looking to bring this [legislation] forward; I want to make sure that it’s communicated to younger communities across the country,’” said Al Soud.
This approach marks a change from Justin Trudeau’s government, where the prime minister’s own youthful energy — and priorities — helped mobilize young voters, especially in the government’s early years.
Now, many of the issues youth care about are overlooked by her older colleagues, says Sodhi. “The older Liberals are more [focused on] trade, [the] economy, GDP, GDP, GDP — [having the] fastest growing economy in the G7, tax cuts,” said Sodhi.
“I think that’s what they cater to. And then obviously younger people, we care about things that hit kind of like closer to home — so mental health issues that are not talked about enough … obviously the LGBTQ community, investing in marginalized communities, [this] is what I hear that the younger Liberals care about.”
But Sodhi and Al Soud both note that affordability is also a top concern for young people.
“ At $600,000 per home, you’re looking at a 20 per cent down payment of $120,000,” said Al Soud. “I don’t know any … young Canadian … that has $120,000 to spare.”
Olsen says young people concerned about housing should feel optimistic about one of the Carney government’s key housing initiatives: Build Canada Homes, a new, $13-billion agency directed to provide land, financing and support to home builders.
“It’s the government acting in a way that I’ve never heard talked about before … I think it’s pretty unmatched ambition,” Olsen said.
The Conservative counter
The Conservative Party does not have members quite as young as those in the Liberal Youth Caucus. But it does have at least two MPs in their twenties: Eric Melillo, 27, and Jonathan Rowe, 27.
On Oct. 30, Poilievre also announced the formation of a Conservative under-40 caucus, aimed at connecting with young Canadians dissatisfied with the status quo. Notable members include MPs Jamil Jivani, 38, Rachael Thomas, 39 and Raquel Dancho, 35.
“Under 40. Over the excuses. This generation of Conservatives is here to restore the promise of Canada,” Poilievre tweeted.
That same day, Poilievre participated in a “No More Sacrifices” young Conservatives’ meet-and-greet at the University of Toronto — a move reflective of the leader’s efforts to connect directly with young voters on the issues that concern them.
In contrast to Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is 60, Poilievre is a relatively youthful 46. He opened the event with a joke about his age — and inflation.
“I’m definitely the oldest guy in the room,” Poilievre told the Toronto audience.
“We were having some debate about the age cutoff for the Conservative Youth Caucus. I said to Melissa Lantsman, our deputy leader … , ‘I’m 46. Can I sneak into the youth caucus?’ She said, ‘No, it’s definitely not 46, maybe 35.’
“I said, ‘Well, 35 with inflation is 46.’”
‘Tangible change’
In Olsen’s view, many young people care about politics, but do not necessarily view partisan politics as the best way to effect change.
“Some of the most political people I know actually are people who are in their twenties, or teenagers,” said Olsen.“It’s more a question of [whether] we see … partisan politics as the way to tackle the issues [we] care about.”
Al Soud says that the young people he speaks with feel their votes lack impact.
“The extent to which they feel they have the opportunity to make tangible change happen is very, very minimal,” he said.
“I think that is what leads to such low numbers in terms of voter turnout or voter intention. At the very least, they don’t feel as though showing up and [casting] a vote is going to somehow benefit them.”
