The Ben Mulroney Show - Gen Z voter makes a plea for Boomers to vote Conservative

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Seniru Ruwanpura, a software engineering graduate who will begin public policy or law school this Fall. He was a former elected member of the University of Calgary Students’ Union and executive vice-president of the UCalgary Conservatives, and one of Alberta’s Top 30 Under 30 for 2024. If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Tulip Festival. I see your festival and race you a carnival in Venice. Or Bermuda has carnaval. Ooh, colorful. You want colorful. Thailand. Lantern Festival. Boom.

Book it. Um, how did we get to Thailand from Prague? Oh, right. Prague. Oh, boy. Choose from a world of destinations. If you can. Air Canada.

Nice travels. Welcome to the Ben Mulrooney Show. And look, if you've been listening to this show for any period of time, we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about the world of travel. And we're going to be doing a show that's going to be about Mulroney Show. And look, if you've been listening to this show for any period of time, you've heard the reasons why I feel my vote has been earned by the conservatives. Every now and then, I want you to hear from other people as to why they are voting one way or another. We're joined now by Senaru Ruampura

from who is a software engineer graduate who will begin public policy or law school this fall, former elected member of the University of Calgary Students Union, executive president of UC Calgary Conservatives and one of Alberta's top 30 under 30 for 2024. Senaru wrote a piece in the hub.ca entitled I'm a Gen Z or Gen Z voter. Here's why I'm voting

conservative and why you boomers should too. Welcome to the show Senaru. Thank you so much for having me, Ben. Appreciate it. Okay, so what was the thrust of your argument? By the way, great piece. And really tackling it from a way that I thought was a fresh perspective. Yeah, thank you so much. I mean, I think the genesis of the article was about the brain drain that Canada is really facing. I mean, I've had lots of conversations with friends and with with other students really that talk about how, you know, they really don't see a future in Canada

anymore. You know, job opportunities are really hard to come by. Housing, of course, is super expensive. And when they see opportunities elsewhere, obviously the US is an easy place, just south of the border. And so I think that we need to change. We need an economy that actually works for young people. And I think that was really the start

of that article, essentially, yeah. Well, the brain drain, that's an expression I haven't heard since the late 90s in Canada, or mid 90s. But it's real, according to what you wrote in 2022, a net 42,000 more Canadians moved to the US, largest surge in over a decade. And a study of STEM graduates from three of Canada's most competitive institutions

showed that within a decade of graduation, one in four work south of the border. So we train them and then the Americans get to reap the reward. Precisely and I think now when we're talking about how the US is threatening us with the terrorists or whatever, right? You know I think there's been a lot of emphasis on this patriotism of you know elbows up and everything like that. That's all great, but the reality is we need actual action. We can't just be reciting slogans

or reciting things that sound good. We actually need a way to keep our talent here because otherwise, as you just said, we're funding a country that is now putting threats to Canada, we're helping them by actually allowing our best people to go across. And the same can be said about our doctors

who are leaving for greener pastures and bigger paychecks and more freedom. And so, and what's interesting about your pitch is, typically when we talk about young people talking to boomers, they're saying, hey, I haven't had a leg up, I need a leg up. But what what your pitch is, is actually if you want this country to succeed, you need to be investing in this young generation that is leaving to go to the United States.

Precisely. And I mean, I mean, it doesn't come from a point of resentment towards towards seniors or towards older Canadians for being successful. Like, again, these are our parents, these are our grandparents, and we want them to be in a point of success. But the reality is, I think they've been successful because Canada has allowed them that success in the past. Obviously, again, I'll keep mentioning it, housing is much more affordable in the past, much more job opportunities there in the past. So again, if we want Canada to be successful going forward, then it has to support young people. It has to show them that there is

a path forward for us in this country. And I think that this is why this election matters so much. I think after 10 years, we've seen things I think progressively get worse. I think it's quite unacceptable that a G7 country has the second worst record of GDP per capita in the developed world. And I think that new policy is needed that allows us to actually stimulate a more competitive economy that allows businesses to invest here. And I think that's really critical. Yeah, and we'll end with a paragraph that I think really sums it up.

Well, Canada's brain drain is real, driven by policy that has stifled opportunity and made us vulnerable to geopolitical pressure as more leave candidates innovation, innovation capacity and tax base shrink, making it hard to finance the policies that drive competitiveness. I would actually say as well it it it it makes it impossible or harder for us to pay for the social services that everyone should want from left to right. This is a, this is something that transcends politics. And Senator Rue, I want to thank you very much for joining us. I want to thank you for adding a really vital perspective that I think has been

overlooked in this campaign. The brain drain is real. You've highlighted it. It's on the hub.ca. I thank you very much for your time today. Thank you so much, Ben. Have a great day. Want to transform your space and your Sundays?

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