Canadians elected a total of 112 new MPs this week — including for the first time a handful born this century.
Three incoming Liberal MPs — Jake Sawatzky in B.C., and Amandeep Sodhi and Fares Al Soud in Ontario — were all born in the early 2000s.
Sawatzky, a 25-year-old master’s student in counselling psychology, upset longtime NDP MP Peter Julian.
Sawatzky told CBC Radio’s On The Coast that he wanted to get into politics to address mental health and addictions issues.
“There’s a lot of people that just really aren’t receiving the treatment they really desperately need, and I was thinking, one person can only do so much — this is more of a policy thing now,” he told host Gloria Macarenko.
WATCH | First-time Liberal candidate unseats longtime NDP MP Peter Julian:
Jake Sawatzky, a young master’s student in counselling psychology, was part of a red wave in Metro Vancouver as he defeated longtime NDP incumbent Peter Julian in the New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville riding in Monday’s federal election. The MP-elect says he looks forward to championing the issue of mental health and addictions in Ottawa.
Sawatzky, who was only four when Julian was first elected, said it was also important for him to put his name forward to represent his generation.
“The House of Commons should be representative of all people, including young Canadians,” he said. “You can have youth committees and that sort of thing, but the best way to have young people represented is to have young people in government.”
The 21st century club almost had (and still could have) a fourth member. Initial results showed Liberal Tatiana Auguste had won a close race in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne, but the validation process later revealed that the Bloc incumbent had won by 44 votes.
That margin is close enough to trigger an automatic judicial recount, meaning it’s possible that the riding could flip again in Auguste’s favour.
Either way, there are signs the House is getting younger overall.
Conservative Eric Melillo from Ontario also won re-election this week. Born in 1998, he became the first Gen Z MP to be elected to the House when he initially won his riding in 2019.
Sukhman Gill won a seat in B.C. after Monday’s vote and will join Melillo as another Gen Z Conservative.
From the tennis court to the House
The Conservatives are also adding a handful of new MPs with ties to the sporting world.
Helena Konanz from B.C. is a former world-ranked professional tennis player and coach, having previously competed in such highly touted tournaments as the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.
She’s joined by two incoming Conservative MPs from Quebec who have ties to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
Jason Groleau is a former member of both the Hull Olympiques and Victoriaville Tigers, while Gabriel Hardy was previously a personal trainer for the Quebec Remparts.
Provincial to federal
A number of incoming MPs have plenty of political experience, making the transfer from provincial politics into the federal sphere.
Among the more notable names is Roman Baber who was removed from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s caucus in January 2021 over his opposition to pandemic health measures. He would later run for the federal Conservative leadership in 2022 and finish fourth.
Other Conservatives joining Baber are Mike Dawson, a former New Brunwsick MLA, and Éric Lefebvre, a former MNA in Quebec Premier François Legault’s government.
Ellis Ross was also elected for the Conservatives. He had previously served as a minister under former B.C. premier Christy Clark.
On the Liberal side, Carlos Leitão is one of the more recognizable figures making the leap from provincial to federal politics. The former Quebec MNA served as the province’s finance minister from 2014 to 2018.
Braedon Clark, a former Nova Scotia MLA, will also come to Ottawa as a new member of the Liberal caucus.
Other incoming MPs have shed their provincial NDP stripes to join the federal Liberal team.
Buckley Belanger was initially a Saskatchewan Liberal MLA before switching to the provincial NDP. He’s now back in the Liberal fold as he heads to the House of Commons.
Similarly, Stephanie McLean, a former Alberta NDP MLA and minister, ran for the Liberals and won a seat in B.C.
Incoming Liberal MP Tom Osborne was a longtime Newfoundland and Labrador MHA, serving as a minister for both the provincial Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties. He was also Speaker of the House of Assembly for a time.
Among the other new MPs coming to Ottawa is Sima Acan, the first Turkish-Canadian elected to the House of Commons.
Incoming Liberal MP David Myles is also bringing his Juno Award-winning musical talents to the Hill.
Kent McDonald from P.E.I., David Bexte from Alberta and Emma Harrison from Ontario join a long list of farmers who have been elected to the House going back to the very first Parliament.
