Ontario Young Liberals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Abbreviation | OYL |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1971 |
| Headquarters | 344 Bloor Street W Suite 404 Toronto, Ontario M5S 3A7 |
| Location | |
President | Palwashah Ali |
Parent organization | Ontario Liberal Party |
| Website | Website |
The Ontario Young Liberals (OYL) is the official youth wing of the Ontario Liberal Party. The OYL's membership includes all members of the Ontario Liberal Party who are aged 25 and under. The organization has local branches called "student clubs" (associations of members at post secondary institutions) and "riding clubs" (associations of members residing in electoral districts), though members are not required to be associated with any such clubs. It is led by a 22-member executive board.
Until 2017, the OYL was also recognized by the Liberal Party of Canada as its youth wing in Ontario. In 2016, at the Liberal Party of Canada Biennial Convention in Winnipeg, the federal party passed a constitutional amendment that ceased recognition of its element organizations that are jointly recognized provincial liberal parties. A separate Ontario "section" of the Young Liberals of Canada was created to serve as its youth organization in Ontario.
Associations of Liberals on university and college campus existed prior to the 1970s, and were loosely affiliated with the party each other through the Ontario Student Liberals. In 1971, the organization was formally established as the Ontario New Liberals and was known as such until the mid-1980s.
The organization has been a preparation ground for budding politicians and political organizers. Many elected officials and partisan with public prominence were active members of the OYL in their youth. These include:
- Yvan Baker, MP and former MPP for Etobicoke Centre
- Arnold Chan, Former MP for Scarborough—Agincourt
- Bonnie Crombie, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, Former Mayor of Mississauga and former MP for Mississauga—Streetsville (served on as Student Director of the OYL)
- Steven Del Duca, Former leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, former MPP for Vaughan and Ontario Minister of Transportation (served as President of the University of Toronto Liberals)
- Dwight Duncan, Former MPP for Windsor—Tecumseh and Ontario Finance Minister (served on the executive of the OYL and contested its presidency)
- Michael Ignatieff, Former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and former MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore (served as a staff youth organizer in the national headquarters)
- Rob Oliphant, MP for Don Valley West (served on the executive of the OYL)
- Ruby Dhalla, Former MP for Brampton—Springdale (served on the national executive of Young Liberals of Canada)
Influence
Since the Liberal Party allocates specific number of delegate spots for campus liberal associations at its national convention, key players of the OYL wielded unique influence in the party’s leadership selection as it has the largest number of campus associations under its jurisdiction. OYL had been a fierce battleground during federal leadership races from the early 1980s to 2006.[1][2][3][4] The Paul Martin leadership campaign was particularly notorious for hostile take over of campus liberal associations leading up to the 1990 and 2003 contests.
