What Are The Consequences of the Generational Gap for Canada

I was recently reading an overview of a recent book entitled, Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk by Darryl Bricker and John Ibbitson. It is very timely and also unsettling.
As they point out many young Canadians are giving up on their future and go on to say that they might also one day be prepared to give up on Canada itself. An October 2023 poll by Nanos Research revealed that 70 percent of Canadians—including 75 percent of adults under thirty-five—believe the next generation will experience a lower standard of living compared to today. Young Canadians are poorer, more indebted, and more economically precarious than any generation in modern history. The social contract that promised each generation at least as good a life as the previous one is broken.
As young Canadians struggle, their parents and grandparents are doing just fine. In the economic race between young and old, older Canadians are winning decisively, while younger Canadians are falling further behind. The financial divide between generations has never been wider, and the data proves it. They conclude with this observation; the growing disparity is not just an economic issue. It is a political crisis in the making.
Older Canadians vote in greater percentages, contribute more to political campaigns and therefore wield disproportionate influence. Politicians cater to their interests and make sure to focus on the issues most important to older citizens. Younger voters, facing economic instability and disillusionment, are increasingly disengaged from the political process, which only perpetuates their exclusion. This negative feedback loop erodes faith in democracy itself because young Canadians increasingly view politics as unresponsive to their needs.
The concentration of wealth among older Canadians is fuelling resentment and creating the conditions for social unrest that could shake the foundations of Canadian society. If younger generations come to see Canada as a country that serves only the interests of older and wealthier homeowners, they may choose to dismantle the system rather than work within it. If they do not expect to inherit a social safety net for the elderly that their taxes support, they may vote for politicians who propose to scrap the net altogether.
We are confronting an Existential crisis driven by this growing divide; a period of intense questioning about life's meaning, purpose, and identity and it can lead to feelings of anxiety, confusion, and dissatisfaction. As intergenerational inequality persists and deepens, Canada risks experiencing an even sharper decline in trust in its democratic institutions than what already exists.
Please join us to examine the generational gap by answering the following questions;

• What are your views on the generational gap?
• How do generational effects contribute to changes in ideology over time?
• What are the generational effects on political socialization.
• What are the long-term implications of generational effects on Canadian political parties and electoral outcomes.
• What are the implications for Canada?
• Should we worry about the implications for Canada?
• What should we be doing to bridge the gap?

Links to articles to come shortly.