now, canada’s young are financially and socially adrift, paying the price for political decisions that not only put their futures last, time and time again, but gorge on them. even worse, the intent is to hand the bill over to us at the end of the day, with interest, saddling millennials and gen-z with the lethal duo of stolen economic opportunity and crippling debt.
we also used to be a nation that valued families and communities. without these foundational pillars, shared identity and values on the larger national scale become near impossible to maintain.
the affordability and housing crises continue to force people out of their communities, away from friends and family. young canadians are delaying or choosing not to have children not because they don’t want them, but because they feel they can’t afford them or provide the quality of life they enjoyed as children. too many of us can barely pay our own rent or feed ourselves, let alone a growing family.
none of these issues, international, economic or otherwise, will be solved until we decide what type of country and people we want to be. it’s not good enough to print passports or field olympic teams; a country must have a heart that guides its actions. if things are to turn around in 2024, political leaders must urgently define and promote what makes canada’s beat.