[3] In the federal election of 1979 he lost narrowly to Progressive Conservative candidate Robin Richardson by 518 votes.
The PC's won and Richardson served in the short lived Joe Clark minority government.
[5] He represented the electoral districts of Beaches from 1980 to 1988, and Beaches—Woodbine from 1988 to 1993, in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Young served as the NDP critic on several portfolios such as pensions and veteran's affairs.
He was defeated in the 1993 election by Liberal Party of Canada candidate Maria Minna.