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Sudburian elected to Ontario Liberal Party executive at age 17

At 17 years of age, Sudburian Yanick Proulx was elected to the Ontario Liberal Party’s executive council, and now serves as regional vice president for the north.
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Sudburian Yanick Proulx was recently elected to the executive council of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Only recently graduated from high school, Sudburian Yanick Proulx, 17, has already landed  the position of Ontario Liberal Party regional vice president for the north.

His goal?

“Rebuild the party in Northern Ontario,” he told Sudbury.com. “I want a better Ontario for me and my kids when I eventually get there, and everyone needs to be engaged in politics because it’s everyone’s civic duty to do so.”

Although still a teenager (he turns 18 soon), Proulx already carries a few years’ experience in politics, which he performed while attending École secondaire catholique L’Horizon in Val Caron.

He worked as a parliamentary assistant and campaign co-ordinator for Nickel Belt Liberal MP Marc Serré, worked on his father Gilles’ 2022 provincial campaign with the Liberals in Nickel Belt, and has served various roles with the Ontario Liberal Party since that time.

It’s a party he believes in, which he said employs the kind of fiscal responsibility and social progressivism he can get behind.

Plus, he’s a fan of Crombie in particular, whom he said “puts people first.”

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Ontario Liberal Party Leader Bonnie Crombie and past B.C. premier Christy Clark bookend Sudburian Yanick Proulx, who was elected to the executive council of the Ontario Liberal Party. Submitted

“I want to do everything I can now to help Bonnie win in the north ... so she can become the next premier,” he said.

The Ontario Liberal Party is currently drafting its plan for the next provincial election, but Proulx said that in Northern Ontario they’ll have to use “people politics” to get their messages across.

For last week’s Ontario Liberal Party annual meeting and policy conference in London, Ont., Proulx asked past Greater Sudbury mayor and Ontario Liberal Party member Marianne Matichuk to put his name forward for the executive council, she agreed and he was elected.

“He has a lot of potential,” Matichuk told Sudbury.com, explaining why she agreed to nominate Proulx.

“He’s very enthusiastic and he’s also a hard worker, and it’s also important that young people get involved in politics.

“It’s nice to see someone from our area who wants to do well and wants to help move Northern Ontario forward. ... Plus, he listens. He gets a lot of input from the people who have been around, and not just Liberals; he talks to everybody.”

Proulx is studying business administration at Cambrian College, and his professional aspirations are to get into private-sector marketing.

The Ontario Liberal Party is still firming up candidates for the Greater Sudbury area, though several names have come forward as potential candidates in both Sudbury and Nickel Belt.

The provincial Liberal leadership is nominating sitting MPPs first, and will make their way down the list until they get to areas such as Greater Sudbury, whose two sitting MPPs, Jamie West (Sudbury) and France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) are members of the NDP.

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.