This past summer and fall, Caleb Bosveld ran in a byelection in Hamilton’s Ward 8. The seat opened up due to the previous councillor, John-Paul Danko, being voted in as a Member of Parliament for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas in the last federal election. Bosveld ran a tight campaign against a record 25 other candidates, most of whom were seasoned politicians and influential business owners, and was the youngest candidate on the ballot.
The Hamilton native, who has recently returned home after playing two seasons of volleyball at Truett McConnell University in Georgia, followed God’s call to transfer to Redeemer University. He is currently a third-year student in the business management program and is a valued member of the men’s volleyball team. “Redeemer’s always been home, in a way,” he says, “I grew up coming to games here, so it’s always been a dream to play for Redeemer … it was really natural.”
The opportunity to run for city councillor presented itself even before Bosveld returned home. Deciding to put his name in the race was a prayerful decision, but once he had determined that God was calling him to do it, he got right to work.
The nomination process began with gathering 25 signatures, and once he was successful with that, Bosveld officially entered the race. He made it a goal from the start to knock on every door in the ward and engage with the residents. He talked to thousands of people at their doors, learning their concerns and priorities, and was able to take those concerns and work them into his platform. His care for the people of the ward gained him support early on.
Bosveld was able to make helpful connections throughout his campaign with local politicians who were willing to come alongside him with their support and advice, even getting to meet Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Many people, both politicians and residents of the ward, were impressed to see a young person interested in making a difference.
“I thought going in that people would discount me because of my youth, but this wasn’t the message that I got at the doors,” Bosveld says. Out of the thousands of doors that he knocked on, he only had two people tell him he was too young to run—while hundreds told him that they were glad to see a young person boldly stepping up to serve and bring fresh perspective to local government.
As we’re in a day and age where things are very aggressive, polarized and uptight, I think it’s important that we bring Christ’s love to the world, and I think that in an elected office we can have a little bit more of that.
However, even with the impressive support he received as a relatively unknown name in the ward, there were still some major hurdles that made the campaign difficult. Most of the other candidates were either business owners and career politicians, or retired people with significant disposable income and free time to invest in their campaigns. As a young person and a busy student, it was more difficult for Bosveld to cover the expenses of signs, flyers and doorhangers, and make time to knock on doors and engage with voters. Many donations from supporters helped to make this easier, as well as a dedicated group of volunteers. Even with these hurdles, Bosveld and his team worked hard, and were able to be proud of their results.
For Bosveld, the decision to run for city councillor came out of his faith. “As we’re in a day and age where things are very aggressive, polarized and uptight, I think it’s important that we bring Christ’s love to the world, and I think that in an elected office we can have a little bit more of that.”
While he did not ultimately win the election, he remains thankful for the experience and confident that young people, especially young Christians, can have a positive influence in politics. “We are the voice of the future,” he says, “and we need to make our voices heard. Older people want to hear from us, and want us involved…it’s important for us to have an impact on the issues that disproportionately affect us.”
Of course not every young person is cut out to run for political office, but voting in elections, talking to political representatives, and being involved in the community are all effective ways that every Christian, young and old, can help bring the light of Christ into the public sphere.