Governments of all party stripes, across Canada, must confront a gnarly problem when it comes to investing more fairly in all ages. How do we pay for the ballooning retirement costs of baby boomers, without skimping on the needs of younger people and burdening future generations with massive public debts? And more basically, how can we have "adult conversations" about how to pay for the Canada we want? Gen Squeeze founder Paul Kershaw delves into these questions and more with leading conservative thinker Sean Speer. Sean is editor-at-large at The Hub, a Public Policy Forum fellow, and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He was previously a senior economic adviser to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  Dig deeper: Our Budget Season 2024 commentary and ⁠Substack Chat⁠, where you can share your budget questions and ideas during our “Office Hours” on April 19. “A fiscal reckoning is coming for Canada” by Sean Speer, The Hub  “Protect OAS by eliminating outdated tax shelters for retirees” by Paul Kershaw, The Globe & Mail “Globe & Mail: Canada’s promise to NATO collides with spending increases for retirees” by Paul Kershaw, The Globe & Mail Paul Kershaw’s provincial budget commentary in The Hub: Ontario's budget further burdens younger OntariansAlberta's Conservatives double down on expensive health care strategy The B.C. budget highlights just how expensive the Boomers' retirements will be

Our heads have been spinning after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week that the upcoming federal budget will focus on "fairness for every generation." In this mini bonus episode, Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw and co-host Megan reflect on the significance of putting generational fairness front and centre in the government's spending plans. More about the PM's announcement⁠Sign our "thank you card" to federal leaders⁠Check out our Budget Season commentary

We spoke with journalist Michelle Cyca about one of the hardest truths we grapple with (and which gets us a lot of hate mail). Skyrocketing home prices have made many older Canadian homeowners rich, while making housing unaffordable for younger generations. But many homeowners resist thinking of themselves as wealthy, especially whenever the subject of fair taxation comes up. So how do we get more homeowners to recognize their wealth and put it to work fixing our housing crisis? We also discuss the high, personal stakes of housing unaffordability; how it’s changing Canadian neighborhoods and society; why "just move somewhere affordable" isn't a solution; and street parking. Michelle Cyca is the editor of Indigenous-led conservation coverage for The Narwhal and a regular contributor to The Walrus, Maclean’s, and many other publications.  Dig deeper: The End of Homeownership by Michelle Cyca in Maclean'sHomeowners Refuse to Accept the Awkward Truth: They’re Rich by Michelle Cyca in The WalrusAttention older, affluent homeowners: Let’s put our housing wealth to work by Paul Kershaw in The Globe & MailIs a bedroom for the cat a sign of Canada's new housing aristocracy?  by Paul Kershaw in The Globe & Mail

David Coletto has had his finger on the pulse of Canadian public opinion for well over a decade, as the founder and CEO of Abacus Data and author of the inFocus newsletter. He shares insights into how generational inequality is playing out in our housing, affordability and climate crises. He warns that not closing this gap could have grim consequences for Canada's economy and social fabric. Yet he's still optimistic we can turn things around. Articles & reports discussed A Zero-Sum Mindset and Canadian Politics & BusinessHousing Affordability Hits Home: A closer look at Canadian families’ financial stress How the Housing Crisis Is Impacting the Goals and Well-Being of Younger CanadiansOpinions on Housing and Climate: Do Canadians Want a Climate-Centred Fix to Housing?⁠Understanding Canadian Perceptions of the Climate Action Incentive Payment and the Carbon Tax: An In-Depth Poll Analysis⁠ Highlights "The largest predictor of inequality among those 30 to 40 is whether they own their home or not. And [if that continues] that's going to make this country far more vulnerable to the kinds of shocks that none of us want to see. And housing will be the thing that creates that rise of extremism that is right now starting to occur." "If there's any country in the world that can figure this out -- that has enough wealth, enough opportunity, that knows how to bring different people together and live together -- it's Canada. And so positive-sum thinking is basically saying, we can lift all boats. Everybody can have a home. Maybe not be able to own, but everybody should be able to have shelter and live the life that they want. And let's figure out the public policy choices that get us there."

Millennial Mayor Natasha Salonen of Wilmot, Ontario, made national news last summer: she can't afford to live in the small, rural town she leads. Besides showcasing how younger Canadians are being priced out of their hometowns, Mayor Salonen also reminded us of the power of speaking out. By sharing her story, she's reassured many younger people that they're not alone, and she's helped many older homeowners understand how the housing crisis is harming younger generations and their communities. "Every idea – and even every rule that governs us now – came out of an idea that somebody had in an initial conversation," she said. "I think one of the biggest powers that people have as individuals is the ability to have conversations." Feeling inspired to share your story? We want to hear how generational unfairness touches your life and the lives of those you love: ⁠gensqueeze.ca/share_story⁠

Better balancing our time at work and our time at home has long been a centrepiece of our family policy solutions. So in this episode, Paul and Megan spoke with Joe O'Connor, a leader in the work-time reduction movement. Joe O'Connor directs the ⁠Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence⁠ in Toronto. Previously Joe was CEO of ⁠4 Day Week Global⁠ where he led many successful work-week reduction projects around the world.  Highlights "Lots of modern roles have been really completely overwhelmed with this fluff when it comes to overlong and unnecessary meetings, distraction and interruption in the work day, poor use of technology, outdated processes. And once you actually put in place a framework and an incentive structure… you find that actually getting five days worth of outcomes in four days at work is often much less of an impossible dream than you might have first believed," says Joe. "If you can actually free up time -- not just for people to be able to do the things that really matter of outside of work, but actually to be able to hone in on the things that they know drive value, that they know are making a real contribution to their organization’s objectives while they're at work -- that's a double dividend. That's something that can boost people's life satisfaction in two ways." Dig deeper Work Time Reduction Center of ExcellenceThe Globe & Mail: Can I trade a higher retirement age for a four-day workweek?Policy changes for work-life balanceOur policy solutions to support young families4 Day Week Global

Canada isn't the only nation squeezed by the symptoms of generational unfairness, and Gen Squeeze isn't the only organization squeezing back. To kick off our "We're not alone" miniseries, Paul Kershaw and Angie Chan spoke with Tom Walker, lead economist at Think Forward in Australia. Down under, Tom explains that younger generations are "doing it tough" too, faced with unaffordable housing, rising living and education costs, precarious jobs with declining wages, extreme weather -- all set against an ominous backdrop of one global crisis after another. Tom tells us how his organization is pushing for a parliamentary inquiry and a more fair tax system to invest in the collective wellbeing of young and old alike. "There’s something that sits above all this: that persistent short-termism in our government outlook and the policy they make, and their lack of ability or courage to do meaningful reform to address any of these things," Tom says. "And an economic system which supports [older] people who are already wealthy... if you dump all your money into property, you pay less tax than someone who's working." Think Forward is the first voice we'll be bringing you from our international coalition of generational fairness champions, which launched the inaugural worldwide Intergenerational Fairness Day last month. Stay tuned for more! Learn more: Think ForwardOur recap of Intergenerational Fairness Day Intergenerational Fairness Day coalition podcast

A lot of Canada's current crises were caused in part by past governments failing to think beyond election cycles. So how can we make governments think more long term and consider the impact of their decisions on future generations? To find out, we spoke with Jerry DeMarco, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in Canada’s Office of the Auditor General. Our conversation touched on: How his office holds the federal government to account on its sustainable development promisesHow Canada went from leader to laggard on climate actionComparing sustainable development and generational fairnessHow Canada and other countries can embed long-term thinking in government decisions Commissioner DeMarco has been interested in intergenerational equity for much of his 25-year career as a leading expert on environmental law. Before joining the OAG, he served as Commissioner of the Environment and Assistant Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. PS: If you're interested in past policy decisions harming younger generations today, mark your calendars for Generation Squeeze's first Community Call on November 16! Register here. Interview Highlights “It’s kind of ironic that the institution that's protecting the public commons is often the one that's actually discounting the future at our own expense.” “When we didn't have the technology to create multi-decade or multi-century messes for others to clean up, then there wasn't necessarily a need to have institutions that could deal with that. But now that we do have that ability to create these long-term problems, we need to harness our ingenuity to figure out new ways of addressing them.” Dig Deeper Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Reports to Parliament Our push for a federal Generational Fairness Task ForceOur interview with Wales Future Generations CommissionerNetwork of Institutions for Future GenerationsUnited Nations Summit of the Future

Max Fawcett from Canada's National Observer joins Gen Squeeze founder Paul Kershaw for a wide-ranging look at intergenerational injustice in Canada. They tackle: The complicity of home owners in our housing affordability crisisWhy building more supply is not a silver bullet How baby boomers are at risk of being remembered for leaving young people in an impossible situation Pension plan politics in AlbertaPollution pricing Memorable quotes from Max: "If there's going to be a meaningful response to this issue that makes housing affordable, it's going to affect all of us probably a little bit negatively. And that's okay because it's been affecting those of us who own homes very disproportionately in the positive sense. And that comes at a cost. It's not like that just sort of falls out of the sky. That money, that is sort of building up in the walls of our houses, is in some sense being taken out of the pockets of young people. And that's not fair." "We need a new platonic ideal if we're going to make this country accessible to young people again, to immigrants, to strivers, to entrepreneurs, to people who want to do more than just spend 60% of their income on housing. You know, shelter should not be the thing that defines how we exist and the choices we make… I’d love to get back to a place where we didn't talk about housing like it was some sort of national obsession. But it's going to require some hard conversations. And it's going to require electing people who are willing to kind of stick their necks out a little further than we've seen so far." Max's columns mentioned in this episode: Homeowners are the true gatekeepers in our housing debate Pierre Poilievre’s housing prescription doesn’t add upDanielle Smith’s pension plan politics could backfireTo solve Canada’s housing crisis, make renting great again

For this episode, Paul Kershaw, Aleem Punja (National Operating Officer, Aga Khan Council for Canada), and Ene Underwood (CEO, Habitat for Humanity GTA) wrestle with hard truths Canadians must face to make housing affordable again for younger generations and newcomers:  the interplay of housing and immigration policy;renegotiating Canadians' expectations about home ownership and wealth; Habitat for Humanity's innovative adaptations to the GTA's housing market; what we can learn from places that are making strides on housing affordability; and how we can take action in our own lives. This episode builds on a three-part discussion series, "Housing in the GTA," organized by Generation Squeeze, the Future Ready Initiative, and Habitat for Humanity GTA this past spring. Their shared goal was to help Torontonians cut through distracting rhetoric about housing, so we could move more quickly to implement solutions. The series received generous funding from the Canerector Foundation and was beautifully hosted by the Ismaili Centre – Toronto, with support from many dedicated volunteers.  Our guests: Aleem Punja is the National Operations Officer for the ⁠Future Ready Initiative⁠, a flagship community-based, multi-service organization of the Aga Khan Council for Canada. He also holds the position of Vice-Chair on the Board of Directors for the Toronto Lands Corporation and is an Executive Member of Civic Action's Emerging Leaders Network. Ene Underwood has been the CEO of ⁠Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area⁠ for over a decade. There she leads a team that defies the odds by helping working families build strength, stability and self-reliance through affordable homeownership in what is characterized as one of most challenging residential real estate markets in North America. Ene was also member of Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force which filed its report with the Ontario government in February 2022 setting an ambitious goal of 1.5 million new homes over the next decade.   Dig deeper: ⁠Housing in the GTA: Who pays and who gains? ⁠⁠Immigration and Housing in the GTA: What can we gain?⁠⁠Housing in the GTA: What's at stake?⁠⁠Ways you can take action⁠⁠Toronto Star: Families in the GTA earning six figures now eligible for Habitat for Humanity help⁠⁠Seattle Times: First American City to Tame Inflation Owes Its Success to Affordable Housing (Bloomberg)

In this episode, we look overseas for inspiration about improving the wellbeing of younger and future generations. Wales' Future Generations Commissioner Derek Walker describes his role as the watchdog for his country's pioneering Future Generations Act. He talks about Wales' new national healthcare strategy and the difficult task of balancing the needs of people struggling to pay their bills now with the needs of people not yet born. He also reflects on the achievements of his pioneering predecessor, Sophie Howe, who compelled the country to scrap plans for a new highway in favour of greater investment in public and active transportation. Learn more Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for WalesOur policy solutions for investing fairly in all generations, which includes appointing a government point person for generational fairness

It's been another rough summer for those of us worried about whether our planet will remain habitable for younger and future generations. So for this episode, we talked to environmental educator and author Elin Kelsey about fighting climate doomism with evidence-based hope. Elin Kelsey is the author of "Why Hope Matters: Why changing the way we think is critical to solving the environmental crisis." She's penned several children's books and articles for Hakai Magazine and was a co-creator of #oceanoptimism. Looking for solutions after this episode? We've got a few! Check out our policy solutions for climate, housing, family affordability, wellbeing, and investing fairly in all ages.  Learn more Project Drawdown Solutions LibraryGapminderSolutions Journalism Network Story Tracker"How Hope and Doubt Affect Climate Change Mobilization"

We talk to ⁠Dr. Elaine MacDonald⁠ about a major update to Canada's most important environmental law and why it’s a big win for generational fairness. The House of Commons recently passed landmark legislation overhauling the Canadian Environmental Protection Act for the first time in decades and recognizing the right of every individual in Canada to a healthy environment. Not only that, Bill S-5 tasked the federal government with upholding the principle of intergenerational equity in the bill’s implementation. Dr. MacDonald was one of the bill's champions and is Ecojustice’s Healthy Communities Program Director. She’s an environmental engineer who applies her expertise to work related to air quality, water pollution, and toxic substances.  Highlights “We need to be protecting the environment for all generations, including future generations. So it really instills a kind of long-term thinking into government decision making,” Dr. MacDonald says. “Even within existing generations…when they're assessing substances for regulation under CEPA, they need to be thinking about all the generations that are currently here, from children to elderly people.” Learn more Ecojustice: Working to bring CEPA into the 21st centuryFrom our Substack: A step forward for intergenerational equityGovernment of Canada announces passage of Bill S-5: Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada ActDr. David Boyd’s book, The Right to a Healthy Environment: Revitalizing Canada's ConstitutionUN passes universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

Dr. Paul Kershaw and Angie Chan chat with federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh about tackling the massive inequalities faced by younger Canadians. This far-ranging, in-depth interview also touches on: How lowering the voting age could strengthen our democracyThe need for greater investment in the building blocks of a healthy society--such as safe, stable housing and jobs--which contribute more to our overall wellbeing than the medical care we receiveHow the federal government should apply an intergenerational lens when making decisions, akin to how budgets already must assess the impact of policies and programs on women and gender diverse peopleHow we can shine more light on generational unfairness hidden in federal budgets Our goal to create a Minister for Generational Fairness ... and buckets of pierogi! Our website has a full transcript of this episode. A video with the complete interview is also on our YouTube channel, where you'll get to admire Mr. Singh's impressive bookshelf. PS: If you're interested in the discussion about how long it takes a young person to save a down payment across Canada, check out our ⁠Straddling the Gap 2022⁠ report, in which we crunch the numbers for housing affordability in all provinces and many cities.  Join our network⁠ to grow our power to tackle generational unfairness! Highlights: "One of the biggest contributors to us being healthy is the fact that we've got a home, and that we can eat food, or that we are not in poverty," Singh says. "We are better as a community when we take care of each other... If we care about healthcare...we also need to then make sure we care about our neighbours that aren't able to get housed, who can't find a place to rent or to own. We're also really not gonna be a healthy society if people are living in poverty. If people can't get childcare so that they can go to work and then they can support themselves and their families." "We have to take care of our seniors, but we also need to make sure that young people have a fair shot, young families have a fair shot ,and that there isn't this inequality that exists right now," he says. "The way we do it is we are responsible with where we spend our resources, and we also need to look at increasing revenue in a responsible way as well."

While working on our Voters Guide for the Alberta election this month, we've found the province's political parties have been worrisomely quiet about climate change, even in the midst of unprecedented wildfires. That left us wondering: why's it so dang hard to talk about climate change? So for this episode, we invited Amber Bennett, a Calgary-based communications strategist, to reflect on her experience discussing climate change with Albertans. She offers some surprising insights and guidance for all Canadians wanting to have more meaningful, productive conversations about complex, controversial problems like climate change (and generational unfairness). These conversations can sometimes be painfully hard to have, but simply talking about climate is a critical way to tackle the climate crisis. Has talking about climate change ever made you run screaming for the hills? Or maybe you've found your own ways to cross conversational divides? We'd love to hear about it! Share your experiences and tactics with us at ⁠⁠https://www.gensqueeze.ca/contact⁠⁠. And as we start our second season of Hard Truths, we'd also welcome any feedback you have about our show.  Explore more: ⁠Re.Climate⁠: the centre Amber leads, which provides evidence-based reports, guides, and training to support Canadian climate communicators⁠Alberta Narratives Project⁠: the engagement project Amber led that produced a guide to having more respectful and constructive conversations about climate⁠Climate Stewardship analysis⁠ from our ⁠Alberta Voters Guide⁠Canada's National Observer: ⁠Election ignores greatest threat to Alberta’s kids and grandkids⁠Katharine Hayhoe's TEDTalk: ⁠The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it⁠ Highlights Anything we care about can become a climate conversation "Climate's super polarized here still. There are very well-funded groups who have worked very hard to make it toxic. But that's not to say that climate doesn't connect to everything we care about. So we can have a conversation about anything really and it can be a climate change conversation. So whether that's about affordability, or if that's about future job opportunities or health or inflation or protection of nature. There's lots of different kind of entry points into those conversations." -- Amber Bennett Restoring trust through stories "I believe that if we can tell stories where things worked and where they are working and then draw connections to people's lives, that that helps to address the kind of defensiveness that we are all collectively holding around, 'We are going to hell in a hand basket. Governments are not stepping up and acting quickly enough to protect us and have our best interests in mind.' So that's where you kind of get apathy. If it doesn't feel like it's gonna make a difference, then why bother? But if we can tell stories where it has made a difference, this has been effective. I think that those nuggets help to break through the defensiveness that we have and help us open up with a sense of trust." -- Amber Bennett Get real about climate and connect it to what we love "I think as moms and grandmothers and as parents, we need to get real about the fact that we are never, ever going back. Not in our generation or our children or their children. We are locked in for centuries of this. And so I think that that will help when we're faced with decisions -- be it on costs or investment or priorities -- that will help us make choices that are more reflective of where we're really at. And I believe that women and parents and mothers have a very big capacity to have that kind of conversation... We need to get real, and connect it to the things that we love. And that kind of love is what is gonna pull us through the hard conversation and into the motivation to do things differently." -- Amber Bennett

Economist Kevin Milligan joins us to dig into the Hard Truth about medical budgets. Older Canadians didn’t pay enough in taxes during their working lives to cover the medical care they now use. That means a smaller pool of younger taxpayers are footing the bill for boomers’ ballooning medical needs. Our aging population's medical and long-term-care needs are expected to grow another 50% over the next seven years. All Canadians benefit from a robust medical system, so how can we pay for medical care in a way that's more fair to all generations? "Whatever problems we have now, they're just growing tremendously...Economists, social scientists, academics, regular folks out there -- they kind of know that the population is aging, but I don't think they know how much that's going to matter over the next 10 years." -- Kevin Milligan Explore more: The Globe & Mail: Recent health care deal is a win for retirees. The finances of younger Canadians are collateral damage.Our solutions for investing fairly in all generations and investing where health beginsGen Squeeze's takeaways from the BC, ON and federal 2023 budgets

This episode features a discussion about our government relations work ⁠— specifically about the week we spent in Ottawa directed towards winning a 2023 federal budget that works for all generations. Have thoughts about our discussion that you'd like to share with us?   Send us a voice message:  https://www.speakpipe.com/GenSqueeze

Yesterday (February 20) was Family Day, so we thought we'd bring you a family-themed discussion.  This episode of Gen Squeeze's Hard Truths podcast features an interview with freelance labour journalist Emma Arkell. We chat about the staffing crisis that plagues the child care sector. Low wages, poor working conditions, lack of opportunities for career advancement, feeling disrespected — these are among the issues that are leading child care workers to leave the sector in high numbers. This, in turn, is putting the promise of $10-a-day child care in jeopardy. Emma's recent piece on child care staffing crisis: https://www.chatelaine.com/longforms/child-care-staffing-crisis/ Follow Emma on Twitter: @EmmaArkell7 Have thoughts about our discussion that you'd like to share with us?  Send us a voice message:  https://www.speakpipe.com/GenSqueeze

Canadians are rightfully proud of our publicly-funded medical care system. Our national self-image is closely associated with the idea that treatment of illness is a social responsibility. In this podcast episode, we make the case that prevention of illness should also be regarded as a social responsibility. Unless we can prioritize illness prevention, it's very likely that our medical care system will continue to be plagued by large patient loads, long wait times, and demoralized doctors and nurses. The evidence makes clear that social determinants are more important for health and wellbeing than spending on medical care. In other words, without access to decent homes, adequate child care, good incomes, and a clean environment our medical care system will never be able to prevent people from dying early. That's why, along with a number of partners, Gen Squeeze has launched the Get Well Canada initiative. Our health care system will "get well" — and we along with it — when we start investing where health begins: the places we live, work, and grow. Find out more about GWC at https://www.getwellcanada.ca/. Have thoughts about our discussion that you'd like to share with us? You can send us a voice message here: https://www.speakpipe.com/GenSqueeze

This episode features a discussion about hope — about why we think it's worth it to struggle to change things for the better (even though it can sometimes seem otherwise). About our guest: Kareem Kudus is a member of Generation Squeeze's board of directors and a contributor to our research. The article mentioned at the beginning of the episode: https://www.gensqueeze.ca/kareem_kudus_first_year. You can find Kareem's other writings here: https://kareemk.substack.com/ Have thoughts about our discussion that you'd like to share with us?  Send us a voicemail:  https://www.speakpipe.com/GenSqueeze