What's up with millennial support for the Freedom Convoy?

61 per cent of Canadians aged 18-34 sympathize with the protestors

Many media outlets and pundits continue to claim the Freedom Convoy is a fringe movement. That it’s certainly not representative of a popular uprising. However, the data says otherwise, particularly when it comes to younger millennials and elder members of Gen Z. Compared to prior generations, they disproportionately empathize with the convoy.

An Ipsos poll released February 11 shows support for the Freedom Convoy divides along generational lines more than it does political ones. A sizeable 61 per cent of Canadians aged 18-34 agree that, while they may not support everything people who’ve taken part in the protests say, “their frustration is legitimate and worthy of our sympathy.” This is in stark contrast to only 37 per cent of those aged 55+.

Moreover, 45 per cent of the 18-34 demographic says that, while they may not say it publicly, they agree with what a lot of the protestors are fighting for. EKOS polls also show the most important driver of support for the convoy is generational.

As it turns out, the true societal chasm growing in the Freedom Convoy’s wake isn’t Conservatives vs. Liberals. It’s a sharp divide between younger and older Canadians regarding the country’s future, the role of the state, and acceptable methods of protest.

Yet, we’ve been assured this protest is a far-right front only supported by fringe radicals. Justice Minister David Lametti called donors “members of the pro-Trump movement” and suggested they should be financially deplatformed. But young Canadians aren’t exactly known for their right-wing proclivities. In fact, the opposite is true: their “woke” reputation precedes them. So what gives?

The answer lies in younger generations’ economic repression, carried out through multiple “unprecedented” recessions, widespread wage stagnation, an ongoing housing crisis, and now inflation. Despite years of promises from politicians, the financial and social prospects of young Canadians just keep getting worse. And very few in power seem motivated to do anything about it, no matter what they preach on the campaign trail.

Enter: populism. Millennials and Gen Z feel betrayed and abandoned by mainstream politicians and the establishment. They’re angry. They’re disenfranchised. As of May 2021, one third of Canadians aged 18-40 believed their government was either mostly or completely broken. They’re less likely to say they’re proud of Canada than older generations.

A November 2021 Angus Reid poll found half of younger Canadians don’t think the country can be fixed with small changes, and instead support a complete restructuring of Canadian society. EKOS polls say 78 per cent of Canadians under 35 believe that, if current trends in the concentration of wealth continue, Canadians may well see “violent class conflict.”

In the U.S., similar sentiments among younger Americans landed on both sides of the political spectrum. Conservative-minded populists moved further right and supported candidates like Donald Trump. Progressive-minded populists moved further left and supported candidates like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and AOC.

That’s probably what would’ve happen here, too–– except the NDP, the traditional beneficiary of left-wing populism, inexplicably abandoned its populist roots just when they became an asset rather than liability. The party’s 44th election platform was hardly distinguishable from the Liberals and failed to contain any radically new ideas. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wears a Rolex and $2,000 bespoke suits. He also went all in on social justice warfare at the expense of addressing class and generational struggles.

At the same time, some Conservatives (most prominently Pierre Poilievre) began to embrace populism. Pollsters were surprised to see growing numbers of young Canadians, once considered a lost cause in right-wing circles, consider the CPC during the 44th federal election. Poilievre’s social media numbers skyrocketed. On social media, when he announced his leadership bid, many young voters claiming to be lifelong NDP-ers vowed to switch allegiances if he wins.

In this respect, Poilievre’s public support of the convoy makes a lot of sense. While many older observers interpreted it as an attempt to appeal to far-right and PPC voters, it’s very possible he has an entirely different target audience. Young, angry Canadians who identify with the protest’s populist aspects and now make up the country’s largest potential voting bloc.

After all, Poilievre’s new campaign director isn’t a seasoned veteran, but a fresh-faced twentysomething who graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2019. This speaks volumes about who he hopes to sway.

Absent a left-wing option in Canada, increasingly populist young voters will turn right. Their rage against establishment elites that, in their view, stole their future out from under them is stronger than any allegiance to a party or place on the political spectrum.

Many look at Canada’s future and see no place for themselves in it–– a trend that’s playing out with record millennial brain drain. For those who stay, resentment brews. The same way many working-class white men became disconnected from American society, millennials and Gen Z are becoming disconnected from the rest of Canada.

This mass anger with no productive outlet represents a risk for Canadian society and democracy at large. It makes millennials and Gen Z increasingly willing to embrace more extreme political positions and tactics, and primes them for radicalization by those who seek to capitalize on their economic and societal isolation.

Of course, this isn’t the narrative Liberals want to tell–– if they even grasp what’s happening among younger Canadians at all. There’s little indication they do.

If the left wants to stem the flow of young populist-minded voters to the right, and prevent future Freedom Convoys, it’d better act quickly to offer a viable alternative.