Growing up, Ismail Abdurrahman Askin split his time between Canada, Mexico, and Turkey; with Vancouver being his first permanent home – resulting in a special love for this city. He studied philosophy and political science before working in service and hospitality jobs for years. Due to his time as a student activist and then as a precarious worker, he developed an interest in advocacy and changemaking. As a result, he has worked for a city councillor, as a union organizer, on elections; all leading to his current job with the Worker Solidarity Network and his ongoing involvement in municipal, provincial and federal politics.
Why did you join CityHive’s Board of Directors?
I joined the CityHive Board of Directors due to my prior involvement with CityHive! Before I embarked on a career as an advocate and community organizer, I was working service jobs under conditions that made me hunger for change – but no real knowledge on how to get involved. I did a CityHive program – the North Shore Young Citizens’ Forum, now renamed the North Shore Young Civic Forum – in 2020 and entered it without knowing anything about municipal politics. Coming out of the program, I not only came out with an understanding and appreciation of the vital role played by municipal government in our lives; but with knowledge on how to engage with it. This led to me partaking in a successful letter-writing campaign for SRO rent control in Vancouver, and a job working for a city councillor.
Since then, I have remained involved with CityHive first via their CityHive Youth Advisory, then as a project partner, in the hopes that I could support other young people in undertaking the same journey I took. As my knowledge expanded and I got involved in more and more; I wanted to join the Board of Directors to bring my former CityHive experiences, and all my newfound experience to it, in the hopes of continuing to support the work that changed my trajectory and can continue to do the same to countless other young people.
What does youth engagement mean to you and why do you think it is important?
Youth engagement to me looks like all the things you may do as a young person, to address a specific problem you are passionate about. This may be running a full on letter-and-community organizing campaign, it may look like talking to your friends and coworkers about something you care about, or it may even just look like sharing stories to your Instagram in the hopes of finding the one person who will respond to your sharing. The important thing is you identify something you care about, connect to others whose experiences with the thing align with yours, and then do something about it together.
Notably – you don’t actually need to know everything there is about the thing. It can certainly help but if you were to wait until you know everything, have all the answers, and are “ready” – you will never be ready. You will learn along the way through success and failure – the important thing is you launch headfirst and bring your own experiences.
That is also why YOUR engagement as a youth is so important – your lived experiences and the knowledge you DO have. You don’t need to know everything – you just need to know why you care about your cause and how it affects you directly. Your experience is shared with so many others who may not be able to speak up; and by bringing your own lived experiences to the table, you can help other young people realize what they share with you and inspire you to act.
In addition, many young people may not realize just how much wisdom and knowledge they already have. Sometimes, the best ideas come from fresh minds, who have not been engaged with an issue, are not set in their ways, and are willing to try out new methods and ideas. You also never know what knowledge you already have will come in useful! I used to work in service and hospitality – turns out my experience working events for restaurants and hotels comes in handy in organizing fairs, roundtables, and rallies! Who knows what skill you have picked up that will make all the difference in a room one day!
But more important than all – this is YOUR world, and if YOU do not get involved, someone else that does not have your interests at heart will. If you want to win the world you want to live in, then your voice as a young person is vital. It may seem like daunting work, and you may have more failures than successes in shaping your community – but you owe it to your future self to try!
What do you like to do in your free time?
So much! In the summer time I like to take advantage of the beautiful outdoors so near our city – camping, wilderness walks, lake-and-cabin getaways! Come winter, I do appreciate time to be a bit of a homebody. I adore art in all its forms, and love reading/writing (fiction and non-fiction), painting, movies, music… In another life, I like to think I would have become a novelist – and still may. My current project is leash-training my cat (!) in the hopes he can join me and my partner as an adventure cat in the wilderness come summer.
That being said, a LOT of my spare time goes towards community initiatives and organizing. I continue to take on extra side jobs in training changemakers, in community work, canvassing, fundraising etc. in order to ensure I’m involved in the work wherever it may be. In addition, I am involved in the board of directors of my municipal party and am working on setting up an electoral district association in my local riding for my federal party; as well as being involved in climate and other grassroots organizations as a volunteer. I truly believe in the importance of staying involved – and in the joy and community that comes with it.
What was the last movie you saw? Would you recommend it?
The Green Knight. I loved it – but my recommendation is tentative. Definitely more of an arthouse film, it’s slow, ponderous, difficult, and absolutely beautiful. Definitely not light viewing, and requires patience and a lot of interpretation – but if you’re interested in this type of movie, this is definitely a decent starting point as it’s not TOO esoteric compared to others of its kind.
What is your favourite restaurant in the Lower Mainland and why?
The Pleasant! Great food and drinks in a great neighborhood, and also operated by some truly lovely folks who have regularly and generously opened up the space to various events and causes as needed! Please check them out – and give the bartenders and other staff your appreciation while there!
Describe your perfect day.
Just this last summer many of my friends in community organizing went up to a cabin for a few days before the wildfire season drove us back to Vancouver. There was one day we spent lounging by a nearby lake, before returning to the cabin for night, where we collectively made dinner, did a pre-dinner appreciation circle, and then went out to the porch to dance under the stars until dawn.
During the night where I was sitting outside, listening to my friends dance while looking up at the stars – and you could see so so many of them! I looked back to the cabin and saw a little orange glow pour out of the windows, a telltale sign of folks inside enjoying good conversation.
There, under more stars than you could ever see in Vancouver, with a warm comforting pool of orange light pouring out; I thought how despite there being a lot wrong in the world, we still had one beautiful, perfect moment there.
That was a perfect day for me.