Intergenerational Fairness Day 2024 wraps up a big year
New global, national and provincial commitments make 2024 a stand-out year for generational fairness. This Global Intergenerational Fairness Day, young and old Canadians alike should take pride in the progress we’ve made. Join us in marking the day on November 16.
The world commits to safeguarding future generations
Gen Squeeze joined world leaders at the United Nations for a global milestone event – adopting the first ever Declaration on Future Generations. The Declaration affirms our collective responsibilities to those who follow, and calls on governments at all levels to “safeguard the needs and interests of future generations.”
We’re adding our voice to the chorus of global optimism about what the Declaration has potential to yield. We’re hopeful it can be the antidote to the short-term thinking that seduces the present to colonize the future. Alongside global partners, we’re now turning our attention to how we secure practical implementation of these commitments.
Canada promises “Fairness for Every Generation” – but our report card shows we’re not there yet
Here at home, we began the hard work of turning words into actions by assessing how well the federal government is delivering on its landmark budget promise of Fairness for Every Generation.
Putting generational fairness at the forefront of our national policy agenda is a first for Canada – and we should mark this milestone. Never before has a government acknowledged that hard work doesn’t pay off for younger people today the way it did for previous generations. This foundation gives us hope for real solutions – but our report card makes clear that there’s still lots of work to do to get us there.
Ottawa isn’t investing fairly in young and old alike, and continues to leave unacceptability high unpaid bills to younger and future generations as a result of past failures to plan for the rising costs of an aging population. Canada’s housing plan still fails to acknowledge the enormous housing wealth gained by many older homeowners, while their kids and grandchildren are left with rising unaffordability.
The fact that federal government is upholding its commitment to carbon pricing is a bright spot for generational fairness, given the climate risks and costs that younger people are poised to inherit. We teach our kids about their responsibility to clean up messy rooms and toys. We should live by the same wisdom when it comes to cleaning up our pollution messes that put their health and safety in jeopardy.
British Columbia recognizes a root cause of underinvestment in the wellbeing of younger people
BC made waves this year by announcing that the province is “determined to make B.C. work for all generations” including by “planning for all ages and investing wisely in well-being, from the early years onwards.” That’s right out of the Gen Squeeze playbook!
The province also raised another point we’ve been making for years: the declining number of workers relative to retirees is straining government budgets. As costs grow for medical care and income supports for an aging population, the province faces ballooning deficits – which in turn ramp up pressure to spend less on other priorities, like housing, child care, and climate action.
Now that BC has opened the door, the time is right to push for solutions. A first step is honest dialogue with British Columbians about whether there’s a mismatch between the taxes we want to pay, and the services we expect to use.
We helped save $16 billion for Canadian taxpayers
Gen Squeeze and other allies stood together to reject a bad economic, social and generational policy proposal that would have seen billions more directed to Old Age Security (OAS) payments for rich and poor seniors alike. Never mind that OAS is already the largest and fastest growing part of the federal budget. Or that young people already pay 20-40% more in taxes to support today’s retirees than these same retirees paid as young people to support the smaller number of seniors in their day.
Thanks to this wave of organizing, the federal government didn’t cave into opposition demands – and younger people were saved from picking up most of the $16 billion tab for a plan that would still leave almost half a million seniors in poverty.
Happily, we have a better plan – one that begins with smarter OAS spending that doesn’t put retirees with six figure incomes next in line for additional taxpayer dollars. Our OAS reforms won’t cost any more, but they will save enough to eliminate seniors’ poverty, invest in younger people, and reduce the federal deficit. New polling shows that Canadians like our plan, with three quarters giving it the thumbs up. Join us in asking all federal leaders to turn this win-win-win into reality.
The next big step – protecting generational fairness in law
2024 has been a year of important progress – and now we need to work together to protect these gains. That’s why we’re calling on the federal government to enshrine a commitment to generational fairness in legislation. You can help by adding your voice.
An Act to Safeguard the Wellbeing of Present and Future Generations will ensure Canada follows through for the short- and long-term on investing in wellbeing for all ages, from the early years onwards.
The Declaration for Future Generations shows that the wellbeing of younger and future generations is a global priority – not a partisan one. Add your voice to our call for all political parties to stand behind, and be accountable to, these commitments.
