Globe & Mail: To protect our finances, politicians must offer platforms, not platitudes

Originally published in The Globe & Mail on March 15, 2025

Canada’s economy isn’t the only thing in need of protection from U.S. threats. We must also inoculate our democracy against the chaos of President Donald Trump’s impulsive approach to politics.

Now that Mark Carney has been sworn in as Prime Minister, he’s expected to call an election imminently. When that happens, all political parties must deliver clear, costed plans rather than promises that are more slogan than substance. Vague promises make it impossible to assess whether parties have a realistic plan that aligns with your financial well-being or values. Democracy suffers when elections are fought by press releases, not platforms, because voters don’t receive reliable information.

Across Canada, people are standing up for our country, embracing all that makes us polite, reasonable and steady. Let’s expect the same of our politicians. The antidote to Trump-style chaos and fake news – including his overstatement of the U.S. trade deficit with Canada – begins with holding parties accountable for comprehensive platforms that are honest about trade-offs and their implications for our finances and community well-being.

Here are five guidelines that parties should follow to deliver platforms Canadians can trust:

First, parties should not promise the impossible. In an era of persistent deficits outside of a recession, promising both higher spending and lower taxes is rarely responsible – especially now that an aging population dampens economic growth. Parties must be honest about the clear choice we face: We must either pay for the programs we want or scale them down to what we are willing to support. Parties should offer competing plans on how to balance these trade-offs, rather than pretending it’s reasonable for voters to expect more while paying less.

Second, platforms must safeguard federal finances from persistent deficits by plugging the biggest budget hole. This means having a plan for Old Age Security. OAS digs deepest into taxpayer wallets, accounting for nearly one-fifth of Ottawa’s spending – and it’s growing faster than most other expenditures combined.

The Auditor-General recently reported that Ottawa hasn’t updated its thinking about the purpose of the purpose of OAS in nearly 75 years. Without a renewed focus on whether we get good value for OAS spending, Canada’s fiscal foundation will remain in deficit, making it harder to fend off U.S. economic threats.

Third, now is the time to eliminate seniors’ poverty. Parties should offer an additional $5,000 to the half-million retirees who fall below Canada’s official poverty measure. The $2.5-billion annual cost could be paid by scaling back OAS for financially secure retirees with household incomes above $100,000.

Fourth, parties should compensate millennials and Gen Z for decades of political decisions that undermine their standard of living. Our decisions have caused younger Canadians to suffer higher housing costs to protect the wealth that high prices have gifted to older homeowners. The slow pace of climate action jeopardizes the planet’s health, leaving younger generations with the rising bill for our pollution messes. Our choices also leave them large deficits and higher taxes because previous administrations failed to collect enough revenue to fund boomers’ retirements.

Scaling back OAS for financially secure retirees with six-figure household incomes could free billions to support younger Canadians with affordable housing, child care and education – without needing any new taxes.

Fifth, we need parties to stand on guard for the future. True fiscal responsibility requires prioritizing the long-term, not just immediate political gains.

The 2024 budget rightly encouraged Canadians to embrace “Fairness for Every Generation.” Responsible platforms should adopt legislation that safeguards the well-being of younger and future generations. This legislation can establish a minister for intergenerational fairness, supported by an advisory board to guide the minister, and a commissioner in the Auditor-General’s office to monitor progress. These tools are essential to ensuring our politicians resist short-term cynical thinking and remain good stewards of values we hold sacred – such as a healthy childhood, affordable home, secure retirement, and livable planet.

Parties will show they are serious about these issues only when their platforms feature the fine print. If party documents aren’t priced out in detail, they’re a press release, not a platform.

Beyond debates on whether Canada should switch to proportional representation, electoral reform should require all parties to submit fully-costed platforms – perhaps even before they are eligible to run candidates.

Canadians take pride in our democracy. As we face down threats posed by Mr. Trump, now more than ever parties must deliver platforms that are as thoughtful and accountable as the citizens they serve. To keep our democracy strong and free, join me in holding parties to the high standards of transparency, integrity, and long-term vision that all Canadians deserve.

Dr. Paul Kershaw is Founder, Lead Researcher & Executive Chair of Generation Squeeze. He is a policy professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health, and Director of the UBC Masters of Public Health program.