Teen seeks to start political party

In addition to the four parties current holding seats in the Ontario legislature, there will be a host of others fielding candidates across the province next month, from the leftist Pauper Party of Ontario, to the far-right Canadians’ Choice Party and its Neo-Nazi sympathizers.

One prospective party which is not going to appear on this year’s ballot is the Yellow Party. Its founder, Fonthill’s 14-year-old Logan Scott, a self-described lover of politics, submitted the form to register his party last week.

“I was reading through the requirements online, and I saw that there was no minimum age,” said Scott, who is a Grade 8 student at Glynn A. Green.

“I know that you have to be eighteen to be an MPP, but it seemed as though you didn’t have to be to start a party. I just thought I’d give it a shot.”

Scott said that if his party is officially registered he intends to try and do something with it.

“It would be good to get a foundation going,” he said.

His choice of yellow has no political meaning, he says, and was inspired by daffodils, which Scott envisions as the party’s symbol.

The party doesn’t yet have a platform, though he concedes that the ideas of the Yellow Party would be similar to those of the Green Party.

“I’m all for saving the environment, renewable energy, fighting for more equality,” he said.

Surprisingly, Scott’s love for politics didn’t come from either of his parents.

“My dad studied political science, but he doesn’t pay too much attention, and never talks about it. He doesn’t vote. And my mom doesn't vote either,” he said, though added that both his mom and aunts have said that they’re proud of him for wanting to start his own party.

Scott’s passion for politics began during the 2015 federal election, when he was in just Grade 6. Since then, he said, he has rabidly followed political developments around the world, including the Syrian War and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

“The coup attempt in Turkey two years ago really interested me,” said Scott, referring to the 2016 incident in which the Turkish military apparently tried to eject President Recep Erdogan from office.

“I was watching what was going on online—things are a lot different now in Turkey than how they used to be.”

Scott finds himself comparing the governments of such other countries with Canada’s system.

“There just isn’t the same divide between church and state in other places as there is here,” he said.

Scott said that he reads the Voice for local issues, and favours CBC for its coverage of provincial, national, and international news.

“But sometimes I just spend time on Wikipedia, reading articles about politics or history,” he said. “I really love history.”

In Grades 7 and 8, Scott studied pre-Confederation and Confederation history of Canada, which he said that he values because, “It’s important to know how our country came to be.”

While Scott said that global, federal, and provincial politics most interest him, he also sees a lot of value at the municipal level.

“I like that you can really connect to your government in municipal politics,” he said. “And if you’re involved municipally, you don’t have to travel to Ottawa or Toronto.”

He has met both MPP Sam Oosterhoff and MP Dean Allison—Scott said that he talked at some length with Allison about politics in general.

“I think it’s really important for young people to pay attention. A lot of young people don’t know anything at all—and things all come back to us. We’re the next generation,” he said.

In addition to politics and history, Scott is actively involved in the army cadets, with whom he is about to take a trip to Scotland and Ireland.

“I’m training to be a pilot too,” he said. “That sort of runs in the family. My dad’s grandpa and his great-uncle flew in World War Two.”

Though he is too young to have a pilot’s license—pilots must be at least 16— he’s finished nearly enough lessons to start flying solo.

“People think that it’s really expensive, but other extra-curriculars can be expensive too. I think that it works out to about the same cost as house-league hockey.”

When Scott returns from Europe he will be looking to see if he has a response from Elections Ontario.

“I just did it to see what will happen. We’ll see if they let it through,” he said.

He’ll also be eagerly awaiting the results of the provincial election, and knowing who the next premier will be.

“My step-sister got to meet Doug Ford,” he said. “She said she liked him.”

Scott himself was less optimistic about the man the polls say is going to be in charge come June.

“Enh,” he said.