On Monday evening, a group of peace activists led by Green Party of Quebec leader Alex Tyrrell staged a picket outside the “Young Politicians of Canada” (YPC) event in downtown Montréal, warning youth about the organization’s ties to NATO. The protest unfolded in front of the Maison du Développement Durable, a venue typically reserved for progressive, environmental, and community groups.
“Today I will be attending the ‘Young Politicians of Canada’ event in Montreal,” Tyrrell wrote on social media before the protest. “When I say attending, I mean picketing out front while trying to dissuade young people from getting involved with this organization which functions as a front for the NATO Military Alliance.”
Tyrrell, who recently co-authored an investigative report with Yves Engler on YPC and its affiliation with NATO Canada, said he aimed to counterbalance what was being said inside the event. Engler was also present at the picket before departing to host his regular broadcast The Foreign Policy Hour.
According to the investigative report, NATO Canada recently published a study acknowledging that young people are more likely to support peace and diplomacy than older generations—something NATO views as a strategic problem. YPC’s role, the flyer argued, is to shift that attitude through training, networking events, and messaging aimed at promoting military spending, arms buildup, and war.
“They want young people to support war,” the flyer declared, “and are openly working with the ‘Young Politicians of Canada’ to build youth support for military spending, war and violence.”
In a post-protest statement, Tyrrell called the action a success, noting that many youth he spoke with had no idea about the NATO connection and expressed concern.
“The organizers were not happy,” he said. “They were faced with question after question from young people entering the event asking for more information about their ties to NATO!”
Indeed, according to Tyrrell, organizers acknowledged during the event that they are partnered with NATO Canada, though they downplayed the connection by pointing to affiliations with other organizations.
“That’s great,” Tyrrell responded, “but it does not address our concern, which is their active partnership, collaboration, and association with NATO Canada—an accusation that they do not deny.”
This picket is part of a broader effort by peace activists to expose what they see as a NATO-backed influence operation targeting Canadian youth. The Young Politicians of Canada, despite branding itself as a non-partisan civic engagement organization, has featured speakers and leaders who openly support militarization and U.S.-led foreign policy.
Exclusive Interview with Young Politicians of Canada CEO Jaden Braves
YPC CEO Jaden Braves responded to the criticism in an exclusive phone interview with Global Green News shortly after the protest claiming that YPC’s links to NATO are minimal and mostly “philosophical”. What followed was a revealing exchange in which Braves made a series of contradictions, deflections, and emotional appeals — a portrait of a teenage figurehead walking the tightrope between being a youth spokesperson for NATO’s values while hiding behind his young age when challenged.
Despite previously touting NATO Canada’s partnership with the Young Politicians of Canada Braves downplayed the group’s relationship with the military alliance during the interview. “We Could Sever Ties with NATO if We Wanted To” said Braves while insisting any affiliation was simply “philosophical,” not operational.
Yet in the same conversation, Braves admitted being involved with the NATO Association of Canada and the Young Atlantic Treaty Association — both organizations with explicit missions to promote NATO policy among civilians and youth. He denied that NATO had any real presence in Canada, a claim directly contradicted by the organizations he works with and public records showing high-level Canadian political and diplomatic coordination with NATO-aligned youth summits and task forces.
When asked about his group’s White House delegation and national security initiatives, Braves dismissed the significance, framing them as personal initiatives rather than organizational ones — a move that strains credulity, given the public branding and promotion of these trips as led by the Young Politicians of Canada organization.
Braves Believes Young Age Should Shield Him From Criticism
Braves insisted that it was unethical to write about him or use his name and photo — despite having published photos of himself at NATO summits, with global leaders, and in military-affiliated settings across his social media and organizational websites.
Braves’ rhetorical strategy is clear: When he wants credibility and influence, he presents himself as a leader, a visionary, and a national security policy advocate. But when confronted with scrutiny, he reverts to victimhood and juvenile status.
Braves has repeatidly used his youth status to dissuade Global Green News from writing about his highly questionable actions and affiliations. However, the Supreme Court of Canada has repedidly ruled that youth public figures can be criticized in public, their photos can be shared on social media and articles can be written about them. Braves repeated requests that Global Green News and other critical media stop mentioning him is simply without legal basis.
One cannot have it both ways. If Jaden Braves is old enough to be featured on stage at foreign policy forums, represent Canada at NATO-linked events, and pitch surveillance technology under his private organization, then he is also old enough to be questioned about those actions.
Avoidance and Deflection
When asked about the business registration of the Canadian Defence Coalition — a private firm he says he founded that is offering lobbying and surveillance services — Braves categorically refused to discuss it. When asked about Zev Braves, the man listed on the business registration and what his parents do for a living he brushed it off as “irrelevant.“ I’m not going to speculate on my family… That’s highly irrelevant.”
Even more telling was Braves’ attempt to pivot attention away from himself by urging critics to “go after real NATO institutions,” ignoring that his own organizations — YPC, YATA, and the Canadian Defence Coalition — function precisely as civilian arms of NATO soft-power efforts.
Anthony Housefather’s Involvement With YPC Ties the Group to Genocide Apologism
Among the most troubling figures affiliated with the Young Politicians of Canada is Anthony Housefather, Liberal Member of Parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism. Housefather sits on the Young Politicians of Canada advisory board—an endorsement that connects the group directly to some of the most aggressive and ethically bankrupt foreign policy positions in Canadian politics today.
Housefather has been a vocal supporter of Israel throughout its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, a campaign that human rights experts, United Nations officials, and genocide scholars around the world have characterized as genocidal in nature. While over 37,000 Palestinians—many of them children—have been killed, Housefather has used his platform to smear pro-Palestine advocates, attack ceasefire campaigns, and frame criticism of Israeli war crimes as antisemitic. His presence on YPC’s advisory board is not incidental; it reveals the group’s deep entanglement with pro-war and pro-apartheid ideologues.
By elevating Housefather to a position of influence over its political direction, YPC further distances itself from any claims of neutrality or youth empowerment. Instead, it cements its status as a NATO-aligned propaganda vehicle that platforms officials who promote war, occupation, and ethnic cleansing.
“If you have a problem with [Housefather], reach out to him,” Braves said. “You’re targeting a 16-year-old while ignoring the people you actually have a problem with.”
Jaden Braves
But critics have indeed called out Housefather—and for good reason. His role in helping whitewash Israel’s war crimes and in pushing militarism at home makes his association with a youth organization like YPC all the more disturbing. Rather than shielding YPC from criticism, Housefather’s involvement should spark widespread alarm. What message does it send when the government’s envoy on antisemitism uses his office to legitimize a youth group tied to military propaganda and genocidal foreign policy?
Conclusion: Youth Indoctrination by Any Other Name
The protest outside the YPC event in Montréal was more than a demonstration—it was a wake-up call. It revealed a growing concern among peace activists, journalists, and former insiders that Canada’s youth are being cynically recruited into serving militarized agendas under the guise of civic engagement. What masquerades as leadership training or political empowerment is, in truth, a coordinated effort to normalize war, militarism, and foreign intervention for the next generation.
Through public-private partnerships, elite connections, and the strategic use of young spokespeople like Jaden Braves, organizations like the Young Politicians of Canada provide NATO with a civilian-friendly façade—one that conceals the deeper purpose of building consent for endless war. The presence of figures like Anthony Housefather on YPC’s advisory board only further confirms this group’s allegiance to pro-war, pro-occupation policies that run counter to the values of diplomacy, justice, and peace.
In the days following the protest, it became clear that efforts to expose these connections are not only necessary—they’re urgent. As the climate crisis escalates and international tensions rise, young people deserve better than to be turned into foot soldiers for empire. They deserve the truth, real democratic engagement, and the chance to build a peaceful world. The movement to stop NATO’s influence on youth is only beginning—and it won’t be silenced by calls for deference to age, status, or manufactured legitimacy.
