During his connection with the _Reformer_ he had necessarily taken a conspicuous part in the discussion of political questions, and his paper was an important factor in determining the results of the local election contests. He frequently "took the stump" on behalf of the Reform candidate, and was known throughout the county as a ready and graceful speaker. He took a conspicuous part in municipal affairs, and for six years sat in the Town Council. He was an active member of the School Board, and devoted much time to educational matters. He also took special interest in commercial and trade questions, on which he came to be regarded as a competent authority. In 1857 the Hamilton Mercantile Library Association offered a prize of fifty dollars for the best essay on the agricultural resources of the country. Mr. Young competed for, and won the prize, and the essay was immediately afterwards published under the title of "The Agricultural Resources of Canada, and the inducements they offer to British labourers intending to emigrate to this Continent." It was very favourably reviewed by the Canadian press, and was the means of greatly extending the author's reputation. Eight years later (in 1865) the proprietors of the Montreal _Trade Review_ offered two prizes for essays on the Reciprocity Treaty, which was then about to expire. Mr. Young sent in an essay to which the second prize was awarded. His success on this occasion procured him an invitation to the Commercial Convention held that year at Detroit, and he thus had an opportunity of hearing the great speech of the Hon. Joseph Howe.
He first entered Parliament in 1867, when he was nominated by the Reformers of South Waterloo as their candidate for the House of Commons. Mr. Young would have preferred to enter the Local Legislature, but accepted the nomination, and addressed himself vigorously to the campaign. It was the first election under Confederation, and he was opposed by Mr. James Cowan, a Reform Coalitionist, who was also a local candidate of great influence. Mr. Young had to encounter a fierce opposition, the Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, the Hon. William McDougall and the present Sir William Howland taking the field on one occasion on behalf of Mr. Cowan. These formidable opponents were courageously encountered by Mr. Young single-handed, or with such local assistance as could be procured. He was elected by a majority of 366 votes. When Parliament met in the following November he made his maiden speech in the House on the Address. He also took a conspicuous part in the debates of the session, and materially strengthened his position among his constituents. He was twice reëlected by acclamation; first at the general election of 1872, and again in 1874, after the accession to power of Mr. Mackenzie's Government. Of that Government he was a loyal and earnest supporter throughout. He was Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts for five consecutive sessions, and after the death of Mr. Scatcherd became Chairman of the House when in Committee of Supply. Among his principal speeches in Parliament were those on the Intercolonial Railway, the Ballot, the admission of British Columbia, with special reference to the construction of the Pacific Railway in ten years, the Treaty of Washington (which was unsparingly condemned), the Pacific Scandal, the Budget of 1874, the naturalization of Germans and other aliens, and the Tariff question. Soon after entering Parliament he proposed the abolition of the office of Queen's Printer and the letting of the departmental printing by tender. This was ultimately carried, and effected a large saving in the annual expenditure. In 1871 he submitted a Bill to confirm the naturalization of all aliens who had taken the oaths of allegiance and residence prior to Confederation, which became law. In 1873 he brought in a measure to provide for votes being taken by ballot. The Government subsequently took up the question and carried it. On two occasions the House of Commons unanimously concurred in Addresses to Her Majesty, prepared by him, praying that the Imperial Government would take steps to confer upon German and other naturalized citizens in all parts of the world the same rights as subjects of British birth, the law then and still being that they have no claim on British protection whenever they pass beyond British territory. In 1874 he proposed a committee and report which resulted in the publication of the Debates of the House of Commons, contending that the people have as much right to know how their representatives speak in Parliament as how they vote.