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42
This election was supposed to be about restoring hope for young Canadians. What happened? (archive.is)
submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
33 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

the plight of young people has faded into the background, as the trade war with the U.S. takes centre stage in Canada’s federal election. Meanwhile, political parties have said more about protecting seniors’ retirements than helping young Canadians get a head start.

...

New polling conducted by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail and CTV News suggests that while the trade war is the top issue for Canadians 55 years and older, the cost of living is the priority for younger Canadians. Only one in 10 Canadians polled under the age of 35 said the trade was their main issue.

Canadians under the age of 35 are also more likely to trust Mr. Poilievre (38 per cent) – who has made the cost of living a central focus of his campaign – than Mr. Carney (26 per cent) to help young people.

The trade war has “taken the oxygen out of the room,” said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative, a project housed in the University of Ottawa’s Institute for the Environment with the stated goal of reviving Canada’s urban middle class.

“Other than housing, there has been a real absence of any policy to help struggling young people.”

From: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/federal-election/article-federal-election-2025-young-voters-housing-affordability-economy/

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 5 days ago (6 children)

I would say that any young person thinking that Pierre is going to make your life better is so fucking full of cope. Pierre won't make your life better. More and more young people have part time jobs, no benefits, and are struggling to find a home and if they do it's an old outdated piece of shit going for half a million.

Atleast the liberals and NDP have been giving them dental coverage, pharmacare coverage and affordable, quality childcare. The liberals and NDP are also proposing plans that will help FIRST time home buyers buy new, Pierre is suggesting to "axe the tax" on ALL new homes without limit of how many you can buy. (Rich people will buy them all).

The liberals plan to do as we did after ww2 is the proven method to do this, and for young people looking for a home or a career, this is how we do it. This housing program will generate hundreds of thousands of trades positions that we desperately need and they pay decently. Using new technologies and new methods while also cutting development fees.

Idk, just baffles me that young 20 somethings are talking about how Pierre is their guy because..... They say life has been harder then ever? When those 20 somethings have only just began to enter the work force enmasse? Like I'm sorry but these kids were in elementary school when Trudeau got elected and every day since their parents have been paying for less and less of their stuff. They are still under their parents insurance if they're in college or university and it's just wild to me that they would actually think this.

Maybe it's them scrolling social media endlessly and seeing random fucking people there repeating "lost liberal decade" or "things have never been worse" (when they have in fact been much much worse).

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 days ago (1 children)

There was someone on CBC Radio discussing this yesterday and they pointed heavily to how effectively conservative talking points are being pushed online by young social media influencers. Some unrelated research has shown that the beginning and end of a lot of political information younger people are receiving is on social media. Heck, I saw one article discussing how a lot of young people go to TikTok first when they want to learn how to fix something. What a stupid resource to go to for something like that, so if people are trying to figure out how to change a tire on TikTok they’re certainly also going there for their political information.

The seemingly obvious answer is that the other parties should be working more heavily on putting out counter messaging on these channels, but the way the algorithms work these people won’t even see the content because the algorithm ignores it and only provides further polarization of ideas.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

They should be indeed, but also where the fuck are the parents of these kids and who raised them? Remember growing up and being told "you can't believe everything you see on the internet" and now we got those kids who were told that raising kids who are perpetually online and consuming endless brain rot? I even get stuck on an Instagram reel to some dipshit spouting about how things are so bad and the liberals are bad and that Pierre will fix it.... And like... This is a RANDOM FUCKHEAD talking. No credentials, now proof, no statistics.

Get your kids off of social media and make them think objectively

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I recommend reading The Anxious Generation - it is extremely hard as a parent to control phone use (especially when they’re not banned at schools), and the internet today is much more engagement driven than the internet before phones. As a parent, I will be doing my best with my own kids to teach them about the dangers of social media, but it’ll take societal change to really address this problem.

I strongly believe that the younger cohort supporting conservatives is social media driven.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

To me it's pretty simple, don't get them a smartphone, get them a standard cell phone thats for calling our texting. They can still text their friends, they can still call you in an emergency.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago

It's half an issue about messaging. The problem is that the Liberal messaging keeps sounding like things designed for older generations and not things that'll help younger Canadians, while Cons messaging sounds like they re for younger Canadians rather than older ones.

Yes, Liberal plans on expanding housing while preserving healthcare are definitely things that are good for younger Canadians, but they both sound like things that are only for older generations. Like building more houses are only for rich Canadians to buy cottages and healthcare are for old people who can't get out of bed because of their bad knees, not that housing means that first-time buyers finally have houses within their price ranges, or that getting sick and taking time off work doesn't equate to being 20 years in debt because hospitals gouge you for everything you have because people are willing to mortgage the rest of their lives to get life-saving treatments.

On the other hand, the Cons keep saying they'll create resource jobs and reduce taxes, making it sound like they're opening up so everybody can become gold diggers and stop the government from taking their hard-earned pay, when it's actually not even close to being true. That the jobs the Cons promise are only minimum wage jobs at best, in terrible conditions and far away from all convenience, or that the taxes reduced will save the rich millions while the poor still can't afford to buy the houses and services that the taxes get saved on, making it so that they are actually subsidizing the rich even more than before. Not to mention that every $100 cut in taxes means that the average Canadian will pay thousands more for the services that they've been getting all their lives.

But no, the Cons are better at wording their platform to appeal to the worst off in Canada, yet those are the ones cheering for them the most. The Cons are really the world's best conmen, and too many Canadians are too desperate to notice.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Like I’m sorry but these kids were in elementary school when Trudeau got elected and every day since their parents have been paying for less and less of their stuff.

The article interviews people in their 30s, and the poll is of Canadians under 35. I'm not sure about our demographics, but I'd expect many of the respondents have been in the workforce for a few years. They're generally priced out of home ownership and their rent has skyrocketed. Those are the same people who are reporting lower levels of happiness (as per the article), and probably having a harder time with the inflation we've seen since the start of COVID.

Blaming their concerns on "scrolling social media endlessly" doesn't address the problem that they are legitimately having a shit time. I don't think the Conservatives have the answers to these problems, but dismissing them out of hand sucks.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I'm just happy to still be considered young lol.

My circle, most want the Feds to do more with what they can, but largely place blame on provinces & municipalities for housing & rent, Ontario removed rent controls for units built after 2018 when the pcpo formed government as one example. The lower levels of government have a larger impact on your day to day and yet have the lowest engagement, my (ndp) MPP even sent out a "this level of government is responsible for this" magnet with numbers and departments of it to (I think) help address that.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Rent control is a first mover advantage at best, a paper over what mass immigration has done. It also hurts people living with abusers and limits mobility while defeating political will, not that it had much will to begin with given Liberal polling after 10 years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I know the article mentions 30 yr olds, I'm almost 30 myself but I'm just talking about people 18-25. They are ALL talking about Pierre as if he's the guy to fix their problems and I believe it really is because they aren't able to simply look at history to show them what happened with shit that Pierre is proposing and how it Infact does not make their lives easier

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

That's shitty. I haven't looked too closely at the CPC platform, but it doesn't seem great. Their promise to build 2.3 million houses in five years seems unachievable, but I can understand people wanting it to be true.

I'm pretty far from 25 or 30, but I'd really like to see more coverage of what's happening with that demographic.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Honestly both the liberals and conservatives numbers are both high AF and seem impossible to do in five yearsnwothout more immigration and training inbthe trades. They are both offering to do that, but the liberals HAVE a plan, like they are actually producing results and are ready to go with the pre approved homes catalogue that can buy used across the country to build homes faster and cheaper because they are pre-approved.

The conservatives are just offering to.... Cut the taxes involved in building?🤷 Oh and Punish municipalities for some reason? Idk. The conservative argument has just been "we're not Justin" for ten fucking years with zero alternatives or substance. And to see dudes saying they will vote for Pierre even though if Carney was running for the conservatives they would vote for him in droves.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

the liberals ... are actually producing results

Housing starts haven't really improved since 2021, and the LPC plan started late 2023, didn't it?

I'm not (generally) seeing a significant increase in housing starts or improvements in affordability (although rent in a few centers has dropped). Maybe once the existing LPC proposals make it a bit further (like the housing catalog you mentioned). But it isn't looking great so far.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

I mean by the housing accelerator program getting teeth and going directly to municipalities instead of through the provinces. That's that the liberals want to do. They announced this approach back in late 2023 or early 2024 I believe, including the catalogue. And then the conservatives MOCKED them for producing one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Fairly sure the younger cohort is deciding largely based on the past performance of the existing government. Justin's Liberals have been in power since 2015 -- for many 18-28 year olds, the Liberal government is the only party they've known / seen. And in that time, have things improved on the housing front?

Or did the government start off campaigning on it as an issue, but then when the issue spiked due to other Liberal policies (mass influx of immigrants post COVID), did they attempt to claim it wasn't a federal government responsibility? And they then flip flopped on that again, and re-assigned the guy they had in charge of the mass, chaotic influx of immigrants to be in charge of figuring out housing (Miller). A decade of promising advances on that file, and a decade of it getting exponentially worse. And it is exponentially worse, you just have to google charts on housing prices / historical trends to see it, there've been tons of articles in the news over the years screaming about it to the ears of deaf politicians. The party swapping leaders last second isn't going to erase that history, one that was supported by the party at large.

For example, the CMHC has a chart of averages/medians for the vancouver region here: https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en/TableMapChart/Table?TableId=1.10.1&GeographyId=2410&GeographyTypeId=3&DisplayAs=Table&GeograghyName=Vancouver . From 1990 to 2000, the median went from 280k to 360k -- about 30% over 10 years, roughly 3% per year. Even back then it was considered a good move to buy/invest in housing due to the appreciation in value beating inflation targets. From 2015 to 2022 (the end of the tables data), it went from 1.09m to 2.06m -- about 89% in 8 years, roughly 11% per year. And that includes years where the COVID immigration disruption "briefly" flattened the increase -- it was up to 2m in 2018, dropped to 1.6m in 2020, and then shot back up once the flood gates were re-opened. Wages, to the surprise of absolutely no one, can't keep up with that sort of increase: it's completely unhinged. From a younger person's perspective, that's what the Liberals did.

That cohort is also young enough that things like Childcare will only apply to a small % of the group. Likewise, likely, for dental coverage -- many young people in Uni will get extended coverage from any parental work-coverage, and young people who work will have that potential coverage directly. Dental costs are also less 'present' and ubiquitous than housing costs -- you gotta pay rent monthly, but you don't need an annual root canal. Government Dental is a perk more for retired seniors, disabled/long-term unemployed people and middle-aged people who don't have coverage through work -- even the CBC ran stories focusing on the senior demographic for that one (the person highlighted, iirc, was a ~75 year old who'd worked in America most of her life, who is currently still working to pay for her dentures). Hell, even when I was in uni, at least one of my friends, who had coverage, didn't bother going to the dentist for years cause she just wasn't fussed. Even as a middle aged person, I'm personally not that fussed with anything the liberals / ndp promise the senior cohort -- many millenials are jaded enough at this point, that promises for boomers are viewed as things that will disappear by the time we get old enough to qualify, if we get old enough to qualify given how healthcare/GP access has also deteriorated: I fully expect to die younger than my parents. I can understand why an even younger generation wouldn't be in favour of putting in social supports for boomers -- at this point it isn't the boomers who are having to pay the taxes, its the boomers voting explicitly to give themselves perks at the expense of younger generations.

I think Pierre / the cons are a terrible choice, personally. But I can fully understand why the younger folks would be swayed by the idea of change, even if its just smashing things apart like we're seeing in the States. The last decade has been bleak, and there's no tangible reason to think that the promises of the party in charge during that decade are worth anything going forward.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yeah but you're saying that as if these people don't have access to the entirety of human history in the palms on their hands, and on their tvs. They are fucking consumed with non important bullshit instead of realizing that we have been downt he road before, and the solution to it is not what Pierre and the cons are suggesting.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 days ago (1 children)

They have direct access/experience with Liberals making promises for election campaigns, and then doing whatever they want once in power. They have direct experience with a Liberal government causing housing prices to skyrocket at rates previously unseen -- the Liberals have literally presided over a period of Canada's history that utterly destroyed the dreams of many younger folks. They also have access to historical information highlighting how much easier it was for older generations, older generations who have voted consistently to 'pull the ladder up' from the next generation. And, most importantly I think, most people aren't fussed with researching years and years of history before voting.

And the disparity on fronts like housing has grown to a point where lots of younger people are basically saying "We'd rather watch it all burn, so you old people feel the same hopelessness as us". And again, I can't fault them for it.

It's not so much about "pro pierre", as it is "pro change". Carney hopefully will do things 'differently', but doing stuff like axing carbon taxes and removing environmental reviews from projects, isn't exactly a "hopeful future" for younger people who are watching things like Jasper and Lytton burn to the ground due to climate change. Carney is essentially an 'older' generation of Conservative, who was parachuted into the Liberal leadership because they feel like the Cons move right gives them an opportunity to move 'right' to garner more of the disenfranchised conservative voters, while the fear of a hard-right wing movement will keep their left-leaning supporters in line. It's a gamble that'll likely pay off, but it's not one that carries a whole lot of 'hope' given the circumstances. There's a reason more 'active' forms of left wing principles, like what you see AOC and Bernie touring on, have more appeal to the younger demo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

I'm sorry, the liberals were responsible for trump attacking us with tarrifs on crucial industries like lumber, steel and aluminum in his first term? They were responsible for covid19? And the latest rounds of attacks on our sovereignty?

The liberals are at fault for the CONSERVATIVE provinces declining to work with them and then continued to ignore housing? It was their fault the provinces abused foreign students by letting them into our schools and charging them obscene fees so they didn't have to use taxpayers dollars so they looked more fiscally responsible? They were the reason the provinces like Alberta and Ontario got rid of their own carbon pricing system, making them have to pay the federal carbon tax? And then blaming the federal government for it? It was their fault that the conservative provinces kept trying to privatize our healthcare?

This is the goddamn fucking problem. Canadians by and large DONT KNOW WHO TO BLAME and for WHAT. "TeN YeArs oF lIbErAL ruLe" yeah. And during that time we have gotte: $10/day childcare, school foods programs, dental care for the most vulnerable and working class, pharmacare, legalized marijuana (which brings in bank btw), the first home savings account, federal student loans are interest free, the housing accelerator program, 30yr mortgage with 5% down for first time homebuyers, $10000 tax credit for first time homebuyers, EV rebates, the housing retrofit program to help make homes more energy efficient. And much more.

But nah people will still whine and bitch about how it's all the liberals fault after doom scrolling for ten fucking years and not paying attention only to absolutely fuck our progress up because why? They saw a fucking Instagram reel or a podcast talking about it?

YOUR PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT is responsible for: EDUCATION, HOUSING, HEALTHCARE, INFRASTRUCTURE, EMPLOYMENT, AND RESOURCE EXTRACTION.

So it's high time everybody wakes the fuck up and starts taking this shit seriously because a lot of you don't even know where to fucking start because you just think "PM MEANS HE FIX ALL"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

As a young person (<30), many older (50-75) people keep telling me its my only hope to vote conservative if I ever want to afford a home and have a good paying job. Present any opposition they'll claim you're following the lies and dooming yourself, and you are also now part of the problem in their eyes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Any 30+ Canadian lived through the harper years and if they still can say the only hope is the conservative after that then I don't trust their judgment. period.

I long for the day politic won't be about weaponizing the dunning-krueger effect.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

People hate of the liberals for housing costs but under Harper housing costs went up more then under JT

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A 70+ conservative was just praising that harper lowered prices across the board, do you mean to tell me a conservative would lie?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Lmao I don't think they actually understand that they are lying. They truly believe what they say

[–] [email protected] -3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

If he cuts immigration it increases wage pressure, which with aging demographics means higher salaries and shrinking home values.

The reverse of what we did the last decade, feeding wealth to the old. Which is why Carney is loved by Boomers. So either a 400$ dental check funded with debt your generation gets to pay for, versus your rent being cut in half, what to choose..

[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

As a young Canadian, I'll take the poverty and hustling over a bloody fascist occupation.

Hell, I actually suspect the government spending will create a lot of opportunities for us. Old people can't retool plants or carry battle rattle quite so easily, and the lowest tax brackets are unlikely to get hiked.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Neoliberalism is no bastion of hope. Neoliberalism only furthers the orphan crushing machine and frames it as something necessary. I simply want to get rid of the machine.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

In a survey of Canadians under 35, 100% of the ones I asked recognized the trade war affects cost of living. They also asked me, "When was this election ever about restoring hope for young Canadians? Where did you hear that?"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Globe & Mail seeding slogans for the Conservative/Reform Party. "It's about Hope and Change, amirite fellow under 35 y/o guys? Don't forget to vote for Hope and Change!"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago

According to what I remember reading in the newspapers this election has always been about the personalities of the party leaders.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago (2 children)

@sbv

As a young person under 35, 3 word slogans from the Conservatives were never going to help me.

I do feel hope for Canada through Mark Carney, because he strikes me as someone who does stuff, rather than just says stuff. Words I like to hear alone won't fix my future. #cdnpoli #carney #elxn45

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

The article isn't really about support for the Conservatives, it's more about affordability issues (outside of housing) not really registering in the campaigns.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

Same. I swear if I hear "lost liberal decade" jammed into the middle of a statement one more time...

[–] [email protected] -4 points 5 days ago

Cut capital gains taxes and generational fairness. Bring back Sean Fraser as immigration minister. Hire a central banker that ignored skyrocketing housing prices his entire term.

What could go wrong for the youth?