Most recent news and insights
-
The Globe & Mail: Trudeau takes first step to break Canada’s addiction to rising home prices
Posted by Paul Kershaw · September 29, 2023 4:00 AM
The Prime Minister recently signalled a clarity of purpose for change in our housing system that has not existed in my lifetime. Housing should be for homes first, and investments second.
Read more -
The Conservative Housing Plan: Building homes isn’t enough for affordability
Posted by Andrea Long · September 28, 2023 11:51 AM
The CPC's plan for housing falls victim to ‘silver bullet’ thinking on housing, suggesting that building more homes will solve all of our problems. It’s a nice picture, and it sounds simple enough. The villains are clear — the fault lies with municipal ‘gatekeepers’ who unfairly stand in the way of development, or bureaucrats who line their own pockets while failing to do their jobs well. The rest of us are off the hook. Sadly, the answer just isn’t this easy.
Read more -
The Globe & Mail: We need a clear goal for home prices; not just a target for new builds
Posted by Paul Kershaw · September 26, 2023 3:00 AM
While strong majority support should incline politicians to be honest about the need for home prices to stop rising, most dodge the topic. This is a big problem, because we can’t fix the housing crisis until we convince politicians it is politically safe for them to stand by this hard truth.
Read more -
Most Canadians know that stalling home prices is the path back to affordability
Posted by Andrea Long · September 19, 2023 11:44 AM
It would be nice if the solution to Canada’s housing crisis were as straightforward as ramping up supply. But it’s not. Happily, most Canadians seem to have a good grasp of what's needed to restore affordability.
Read more -
Trudeau: "House pricing can not continue to go up"
Posted by Megan Wilde · September 15, 2023 9:58 AM
The Prime Minister boldly acknowledging that house prices must stall strengthens all other housing policy commitments. Ambitious targets for building more homes do little good if we ignore the prices for which these homes will sell. Without deep subsidies funded by tax dollars, new market units will price in the rising land values that have already soared well beyond what most can afford to rent or buy with local earnings.
Read more -
"We have an ageist federal government"
Posted by Andrea Long · September 11, 2023 5:53 PM
Gen Squeeze supporter Mary Peirson (MD, CCFP) recently wrote to us, “We have an ageist federal government – one that favours older Canadians and retirees in particular.” Here's one brave Baby Boomer's take on policies that prop up generational unfairness.
Read more -
Globe & Mail: We need a federal council on generational fairness
Posted by Paul Kershaw · September 01, 2023 7:06 AM
Talk of “youth issues” is distracting, drawing attention from the root causes of the problems, which have less to do with younger generations than their treatment by older ones as a result of past policy decisions. To begin to fix this, Ottawa should launch a general fairness council to investigate why Canada no longer works fairly for all generations.
Read more -
The policy changes we need for more work-life balance
Posted by Andrea Long · August 24, 2023 4:55 PM
Trading shorter work weeks for longer working lives would improve work-life balance for younger generations and ease the massive demographic squeeze on government budgets.
Read more -
The Globe & Mail: Let’s be open to paying personally to reduce climate change
Posted by Paul Kershaw · July 01, 2023 12:00 AM
The scale of damage caused by extreme weather across Canada signals that paying personally to fight climate change is no longer just a political gesture – or even optional. The questions are how much we will pay – some now, or more later? And which generations will incur the largest burdens?
Read more -
Alberta is taking a step in the wrong direction
Posted by Andrea Long · June 21, 2023 12:30 PM
For people across Canada, there’s reason to be concerned about the trajectory Alberta just locked in for the next four years, especially when it comes to climate.
Read more