NDP finally getting a fair shake in the media?

The Globe and Mail, Editorial:

The election to Parliament of students and twentysomethings has been a source of bemusement for some political elites. Not all of these accidental NDP MPs expected to win. But to hold them up to ridicule, before they have exercised any of their public duties, is to be contemptuous of democracy itself.

Election invites scrutiny – so yes, let’s scrutinize them. Pierre-Luc Dusseault, a Université de Sherbrooke political science student, may have had his summer plans to work at a golf course (minimum wage $9.65 an hour) sidelined by his election as an MP (salary $157,731 a year), so that he (age 19) can hold the Prime Minister (age 52) to account.

So what? Do these divergences in age, income or station make Mr. Dusseault any less able an MP? From the post-election interviews he’s given, he has come across as thoughtful, intelligent, reflective and ready to serve. Or take 27-year-old Alexandrine Latendresse, newly elected in Louis-Saint-Laurent in her second run for office. She noted with acuity in a La Presse interview, “We always say young people aren’t interested in politics. But when they do engage, we hit them over the head.”

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