Generation Screwed

“Lower taxes, less waste, and more accountable government” is what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation fights for daily.  

Aaron Gunn, Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s director of special projects, has been handed the reins to a new initiative called Generation Screwed. 

Generation Screwed is
“a campus-based movement aiming to raise awareness and solicit action from young people across Canada on issues of government debt, deficits and unfunded liability,” Aaron said.

The Generation Screwed campaign currently has 17 campus coordinators working with Aaron to help increase awareness of the rising national debt across Canada.

“Our campaign was launched only at the beginning of September so we still have a long way to go. That being said, we are very happy with our progress so far. It can be quite challenging to get an organization like this of the ground,” he said.

Aaron grew up in Victoria, British Columbia in “a very stable, middle-class family,” he explained.  He spent three years serving with the 5th Field Artillery Reserve Regiment (similar to the United States National Guard) in Victoria, BC under the belief that “everyone should give back to their country and previous generations that have given us so much today.”

At 15, Aaron developed skills in public relations and video production through a company he and a couple friends started. This venture helped Aaron pay his way through college and set him up with his current full time position.

Aaron first learned about the Leadership Institute (LI) from his current boss and former LI employee Troy Lanigan. Following his recommendation, Aaron enrolled in the December 2013 Portland, Oregon Youth Leadership School (YLS), the department that trained 950 young activists across the globe in 2013.

As LI’s flagship school, the YLS also known as the ‘boot camp of politics,’ is an intense two-day training that focuses on teaching students effective techniques to organize and lead mass-based youth efforts for candidates and causes of their choice.  The training specifically focuses on building effective student organizations, getting out the vote, and developing a public relations strategy.

Already, Aaron has implemented his training with LI into positive gains for Generation Screwed.

“Since LI’s Youth Leadership School, I have used the knowledge I gained to better lead the Generation Screwed campaign,” Aaron said. “We have five events planned in January alone, which compares to eight planned throughout all of last semester. I couldn’t be happier with the results.”

Aaron continued, “I would describe the Leadership Institute as an organization committed to assisting the conservative movement through the dispersion of its vast knowledge of political technology to future conservative leaders.”

Please congratulate Aaron Gunn on his work to help build a mass-based youth effort for a smaller government in Canada, and please applaud him for receiving LI’s Conservative Leader-In-Training Award.

To nominate a Leadership Institute graduate or faculty member for the Conservative Leader Award or Conservative Leader-In-Training Award, please contact LI's Director of External Affairs Lauren Day, at Lauren@LeadershipInstitute.org.