When you think about what makes us healthy, do you think of doctors, medicine, and hospitals? Or do you think of affordable housing, living wages, and quality child care? Our health depends much more on the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age than on the medical care we receive. But for decades Canadian governments have devoted more and more of their budgets to medical care, leaving less money for the social supports that matter more to lifelong wellbeing. This unhealthy imbalance in government spending is a major obstacle in our quest to make Canada work more fairly for all generations. So we spoke with award-winning author and journalist André Picard about how curing our “sickness care system” will require greater investment in the building blocks of a healthy society.

⁠André Picard⁠ has been writing about health for ⁠The Globe & Mail⁠ since 1987 and was appointed to the Order of Canada last year for his dedication to public health journalism.

Dig Deeper

• ⁠Get Well Canada⁠, our alliance pushing Canadian governments to rebalance how they invest in wellbeing
• "⁠Canada must rethink health spending strategy⁠" by André Picard, The Globe & Mail
• "⁠Smart health-care policy must include affordable housing⁠" by André Picard, The Globe & Mail
• ⁠CBC Ideas⁠: "We don't have a health-care crisis, it's an implementation crisis, says André Picard"
• CCPA's The Monitor featuring Get Well Canada
• Watch our video about Past Policy Chickens

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 Ontarians
  • Alberta'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 announcement
• ⁠Sign our "thank you card" to federal leaders⁠
• Check 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's
• Homeowners Refuse to Accept the Awkward Truth: They’re Rich by Michelle Cyca in The Walrus
• Attention older, affluent homeowners: Let’s put our housing wealth to work by Paul Kershaw in The Globe & Mail
• Is 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 & Business
• Housing Affordability Hits Home: A closer look at Canadian families’ financial stress

• How the Housing Crisis Is Impacting the Goals and Well-Being of Younger Canadians
• Opinions 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 Excellence
• The Globe & Mail: Can I trade a higher retirement age for a four-day workweek?
• Policy changes for work-life balance
• Our policy solutions to support young families
• 4 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 Forward
• Our recap of Intergenerational Fairness Day
• Intergenerational Fairness Day coalition podcast