The rapidly-dwindling prospects of an entire Canadian generation are raising the odds of a significant political realignment.
One ‘oddity’ of recent public opinion polling in Canada has been a significant generational shift.
For decades, the Liberals & NDP were the party of young people, while the Conservatives did better among older Canadians.
But now, that is beginning to shift.
Since Pierre Poilievre launched his CPC leadership bid – and especially since he became the party leader – the CPC has been doing much better among young Canadians, even leading the Liberals among the 18-34 demographic in some polls.
That’s something that rarely happened, and the trend has sustained itself long enough for us to know that it isn’t just statistical noise.
Poilievre has consistently discussed the serious economic challenges facing young Canadians, and has been effective at linking high-level concepts such as the impact of Bank of Canada money printing/Liberal budget deficits with what people are experiencing in their day-to-day lives. The CPC leader has also spoken about how an entire generation is being priced out of the housing market, something that both the Liberal government and the Bank of Canada have not only failed to address, but have in fact made worse.
So, it is no real surprise that Canada is experiencing a potential political realignment with younger Canadians quite understandably seeking to support the only party that is really addressing the bleak economic reality they face.
And a new report on insolvencies in Canada showing millennials disproportionately hit by rising insolvencies further demonstrates the challenges facing that generation:
“Around half of all insolvencies filed in 2022 were by millennials, despite only accounting for less than 27 per cent of the Canadian population aged 18 and older, according to a new study.
A study conducted by licensed insolvency trustees Hoyes, Michalos and Associates Inc. released Monday, revealed that 49 per cent of insolvencies in 2022 were filed by millennials. The study also found millennials were the only age group to see a rise in unsecured debt obligations during the year.
“The average insolvent millennial is just 33 years old, yet they are 1.7 times more likely than Baby Boomers and 1.4 times as likely as Generation X to file insolvency, relative to the population,” Ted Michalos, a licensed insolvency trustee and co-founder at Hoyes, Michalos and Associates, said in a news release.
“We’ve noticed an overall trend since 2016 that the average insolvent borrower continues to get younger, with student loan debt and extremely high-cost loans being the main drivers of their insolvency,” he said.”
Not only are millennials facing serious debt issues, but the quality of debt is declining:
“Reliance on high-cost loans among the age group increased by 17.4 per cent in 2022 from the previous year, the study said. Around 55 per cent held debt from at least one high-cost loan, with an average debt of $11,940.”
Failed policy
Canada is a well-educated, technologically advanced nation brimming with open space and immense natural resource deposits.
The fact that we are facing a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis is an indictment of the policies of the Liberal federal government, and those policies are wrecking the prospects and dreams of an entire generation.
Spencer Fernando
