Invest fairly in all generations: news & insights

Canada will struggle to raise funding for national defence because previous governments failed to plan adequately to pay for aging baby boomers. Since the public gives little attention to this failure, and little credit to the Trudeau government for dealing with the problem now, military spending may suffer collateral damage.

“There’s a generational divide right now in this country between people who got into the housing market at a time when that was a reasonable thing to do regardless of how much money your parents had in their bank account.” You might think that Gen Squeeze wrote that line. But we’re happy to report it’s from another important voice: Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser.

Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw was on Parliament Hill this week to remind Canadians why most of us supported paying for our pollution in the first place: “[W]e pay for our pollution because we love our kids, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. We have a duty to pay for our pollution for them… because there’s absolutely no escaping that we put our kid’s health, safety, air, drinking water, and food at risk when we pollute.”

Alberta’s 2024 budget ramps up funding for a medical care system that already spent more per person than in B.C. and Ontario, while achieving poorer health outcomes.

Deficits generally are no longer partisan or ideological. They reflect a structural problem in government budgets. Unfortunately, the vitriol that often accompanies talk of taxation impedes the genuine dialogue required to fix this problem, inclining politicians to shy away from speaking hard truths about the fiscal reckoning we now face. Older affluent voters, we need your help to address this problem.

Last week’s B.C. budget features a hard truth that, until now, had been swept under the carpet in the province and elsewhere across the country. Previous governments did not prepare adequately for the medical care Baby Boomers consume in retirement.  

Two years into the rollout of federal funding for $10-a-day child care, the plan still isn’t firing on all cylinders. But it isn’t a sign that the plan is broken. It signals that provinces are playing politics with federal funding rather than urgently reducing financial hardships facing young families.

We're thrilled to announce pivotal progress in our journey towards a Canada that works for all ages. BC has made an unprecedented commitment to generational fairness in the province’s 2024 spending plan.

Older Canadians worked and lived in an era when blue-collar jobs could pay enough to purchase a home. With the wealth they have since acquired from rising home values, many have ascended to the ranks of the affluent. The financial industry recognizes this. Public opinion does too. It’s time for governments to catch up, by revisiting social-spending priorities and revenue plans to pay for the investments that citizens want.

The deficits announced in Ottawa’s fall economic statement remind us that previous governments never worked out how to pay for the healthy retirement of baby boomers. The personal finances of younger Canadians are collateral damage.