Should a candidate's age matter in the provincial byelection? (9 photos)

"If you are not a Liberal at 25, you have no heart. If you are not a Conservative at 35, you have no brain."

Various permutations of this quote have been attributed over the years to Benjamin Disraeli, George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Edmund Burke, Georges Clemenceau, Victor Hugo and King Oscar II of Sweden.

Does age matter in politics?

Here in Sault Ste. Marie, the issue of a political candidate's age was raised in the current provincial byelection, in a debate exchange between Liberal candidate Debbie Amaroso and her Conservative challenger in the 2017 provincial byelection, Ross Romano.

"I have fought for this community a lot longer than you have, young man, because I've been around a lot longer than you have," Amaroso told Conservative candidate Ross Romano, a 37-year old father of three and Ward 6 councillor.

Her remark was delivered in a stern, no-nonsense voice, as the former Sault Ste. Marie mayor gestured at Romano from across the room during a candidates' debate organized by the United Steelworkers on May 16.

Amaroso was responding to a remark from Romano implying that Amaroso wanted to unfairly hold local votes hostage in the byelection.

"I don't think it's fair to say that you have to elect the party in power because they're in power," Romano said.

"In fact, I think it's unfair, because to say that means that you are saying that your government is going to hold our votes hostage. We won't get anything if we don't elect the Liberal. How's that fair? How's that fair at all?"

Amaroso responded: "I never made the statement that I was holding the vote hostage. I'm dealing with the history of this community. And the history is that when we are aligned, then we get things done."

"It's a choice for this community," Amaroso said. "It's not a choice between the Liberals and the Conservatives and the NDP. The choice is who is positioned? Who needs to be at the table?"

"I have a seat at the table. You don't, you don't and you don't. I do."

"When I was asked to do this, don't ever, ever sit there and tell me that it's unfair."

Romano replied: "Myself and Patrick Brown, leader of the party, we weren't even old enough to vote when Mike Harris got elected. As my friend Mayor Deb just indicated, I'm a young man, I wasn't around at that time, we're in a different place. We're moving in a new direction. We're a new party. We're committed to the middle class."

Was Romano offended by the reference to his age?

"I have a pretty thick skin," he told SooToday. "I didn't realize I was that old."

Ontario's election law says you can run in a provincial election if you are: