Generation Squeeze's Hard Truths

Emma Buchanan of Visual Change Video sits down with Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw to discuss Elxn 45 through the lens of generational fairness and Gen Squeeze’s election priorities: housing, pollution pricing, tax cuts, and balancing the budget (and trust us, the last two are more interesting than you think!).We seek to understand:- The magical thinking behind party promises to cut taxes and increase spending.- The surprising budget item that overshadows all other federal spending and why parties aren't talking about it.- Where parties are falling short on what Canadians really need to address the unaffordability crisis. And;- What happening to Mr. Poilievre's "carbon tax election", and what's now at stake to protect our kids from harmful pollution.In an era of “Trump-style” political turmoil and fake news, we use our Dupe-o-Meter to dig into each party’s promises to discover if there’s substance beyond the slogans, so voters know what’s really on offer.Learn more:Gen Squeeze’s 2025 Election Guide

For our last election bonus, we dip into the sexiest of ballot issues: deficits and taxes. Our guest is Marc Lee, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in BC. Deficits and medical budgets are ballooning across Canada, as there are fewer workers to support more and more retiring baby boomers. How do BC parties propose to balance spending and revenue, while meeting the needs of both young and old British Columbians? To learn more, check out our BC Voters Guide! Please note that we recorded this interview shortly before the Conservative Party of BC released its costed platform, so the Voters Guide has our most up-to-date analysis and report card on deficits.

As election day approaches, housing affordability and access are top of mind for many British Columbians. The BC NDP, Green, and Conservative parties acknowledge the severity of the crisis, but they offer very different plans to tackle it. We spoke about those differences with Thom Armstrong, CEO of BC’s Cooperative Housing Federation. We also dig into a few of the key strengths and weaknesses in housing platforms that matter most for younger and future generations. Dig deeper Our BC Election Housing Report Card Housing Central’s BC Election Platform Analysis Our full BC Voters Guide

We dig into what the BC NDP, Conservatives and Green parties are promising on child care. Our guest Rita Chudnovsky serves on the board of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and has spent three decades advocating for child care with organizations across Canada. The conversation should interest all Canadians concerned about supporting families with affordable child care. Learn more: Our Good Ancestor Report Card on Child Care $10aDay's BC Election Platform Analysis from the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and the Early Childhood Educators of BC Generation Squeeze's non-partisan ⁠BC Voters Guide⁠ with our election analyses on child care, housing, deficits, climate, and health.

Canada's outdated, underfunded parental leave system is failing too many families. UNICEF's Lisa Wolff explains why one in three infants is falling through the cracks in this system, and how we can give all children a good start in life, by giving their parents adequate time off and income to care for them. Dig Deeper UNICEF Canada's parental leave campaign Generation Squeeze's family policy solutions "Helping our kids thrive is a shared responsibility" by Andrea Long, Gen Squeeze Senior Director of Research & Knowledge Mobilization

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke with Gen Squeeze founder Paul Kershaw and our supporters about the federal government's plans to deliver on its budget's promise to restore "Fairness for Every Generation," through investments in housing, child care, climate action, and economic growth. They also tackle the imbalance in spending on older and younger Canadians. This is a recording of a live town hall in Vancouver on June 20. Dig Deeper Event slides with budget infographic and more ⁠Support our call for an Act to Safeguard the Wellbeing of Present and Future Canadians⁠ ⁠Our take on Budget 2024⁠ Previous Hard Truths episodes with Prime Minister Trudeau, ⁠NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh⁠, and ⁠Green Party Leader Elizabeth May⁠

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw for a live show with our supporters and allies in Vancouver. They delved into the 2024 Budget's focus on "Fairness for Every Generation," as well as housing, child care, climate change, deficits, and the challenge of protecting healthy retirements without sacrificing the wellbeing of younger and future Canadians. Dig Deeper Slides from the event with graphics ⁠Prime Minister Trudeau's budget announcement video, which ends with a plea to older generations: "We can't let them down."⁠ Support our call for an Act to Safeguard the Wellbeing of Present and Future Canadians Our take on Budget 2024 Leger x Post Media report that found most Gen Z & Millennials agree that politicians are more interested in protecting interests of older generations and that previous generations are ‘rigging the system’.  Previous Hard Truths episodes with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

Younger Canadians are far from alone in feeling squeezed by the rising costs of housing, child care, and higher education. In this episode, we spoke with Liz Emerson, CEO of the UK's Intergenerational Foundation, about the symptoms of generational unfairness harming young people in England, as well as the progress her organization has made calling political attention to their plight and fighting for a fairer deal for young and future generations. Have a minute to help us? Please take our quick survey to help us improve how we keep in touch with our supporters. Dig Deeper "Canada promises generational fairness" by Liz Emerson Hard Truths: Younger Australians aren't getting "a fair go" either

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