Generation Squeeze's Hard Truths

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

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 promises How Canada went from leader to laggard on climate action Comparing sustainable development and generational fairness How 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 Force Our interview with Wales Future Generations Commissioner Network of Institutions for Future Generations United 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 crisis Why 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 Alberta Pollution 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 up Danielle Smith’s pension plan politics could backfire To 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 action⁠ ⁠Toronto Star: Families in the GTA earning six figures now eligible for Habitat for Humanity help⁠ ⁠Seattle 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 Wales Our policy solutions for investing fairly in all generations, which includes appointing a government point person for generational fairness