海角社区官网

So when a lane opens up 鈥� a clear stretch of political laneway 鈥� you don鈥檛 ask questions. You step on the gas.

Pierre Poilievre did just that last week when he called upon the federal government to scrap the temporary foreign workers (TFW) program, claiming it had flooded the labour market, suppressed wages, and made it nearly impossible for young Canadians to find decent work.

It was part of a wider series of announcements and press events designed to reframe the conversation before Parliament returns on Sept. 15, and to drag the spotlight back to the cost-of-living pressure points facing everyday Canadians.

But buried in was a line worth paying attention to:

“Let’s be honest. Young people today form what I call ‘generation screwed.’ Let’s look at the situation 鈥� It’s the first generation that cannot afford a home in Canadian history. And now, the double gut punch, they have the worst employment number of any group of young people since the late 1990s.”

You can argue about who might be to blame for this state of affairs, or indeed the wisdom of axing this program.

But you cannot argue with the underlying facts. Nor their political potency.

The youth unemployment scandal that Poilievre referenced is not a niche concern. And we need to be absolutely clear about what it represents.

Young Canadians are graduating with more education, more debt, and fewer pathways.

They鈥檙e facing wage scarring: the long-term earnings damage caused by unemployment or entering the workforce during a downturn. It is dubbed “scarring” because the pain lingers, reshaping career trajectories, home ownership timelines, and family planning for years 鈥� sometimes decades.

It鈥檚 also a canary in the coal mine for the wider economy, as youth unemployment is often the first visible crack ahead of a broader economic recession.

“Screwed” might be putting it too gently. Because there is also AI.

Young Canadians are extremely digitally fluent. They know better than anyone how much of the white-collar job market is vulnerable to automation. They鈥檝e already seen it. They’re not naive about the “future of work.” They’re anxious 鈥� justifiably so 鈥� that the future has no room for them.

As Chancellor of OCAD University, I shake the hands of hundreds of graduates every year. And, I can tell you: this year was different.

The anxiety was palpable. Students weren鈥檛 just worried. Many felt disillusioned.

What we鈥檙e witnessing is the slow formation of a politically volatile cohort: highly educated, underemployed, underpaid, and increasingly impatient.

What does this mean for Poilievre and the Conservatives?

It means the generational lane is wide open.

In the last election, there is no question the Conservative party made tangible gains among this younger demographic.

There is a widely held perception, , that the boomer generation drove the Liberal party鈥檚 resurgence, and the younger Canadians were more skeptical and leaned Conservative.

Specifically, young men. Advantage Poilievre.

But for Poilievre, the other half of that cohort 鈥� young women 鈥� it鈥檚 another story. Appeal to women has been a niggling, persistent problem for him.

So you can bet Anada Poilievre, who has considerable political skill and 鈥� right on cue 鈥� has , to take on an increasingly prominent role.

But the bottom line for Conservatives is this. If they get this right, they can fracture the generational vote in a way we haven鈥檛 seen in decades.

Because it is young, jobless Canadians who are feeling the economic downturn and poor job market conditions the most and who can speak loudest.

Critically, however, Poilievre must realize that the message is one thing. Waxing poetic about 鈥済eneration screwed鈥� is easy. Building a reactive, youth-focused comms machine that speaks in their language, reflects their anxieties, and channels their energy into votes 鈥� that鈥檚 the hard part.

But it鈥檚 also the most important.

Pierre Poilievre has found an open lane. Now he needs to build the right machine to seize it. Because young, jobless Canadians aren鈥檛 just watching 鈥� they鈥檙e waiting. And right now, they are up for grabs.