Can Trudeau's budget restore 'generational fairness'? Economists say don't bet on it

«Everything that is created, built, served and sold in this country is increasingly being created, built, served and sold by Millennials and Gen Z,» said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he announced what he called a budget focused on a quest for «generational fairness.»

«Their success is Canada's success in the future, sure, but also right now. But the economy isn't rewarding them the way it used to reward their parents and grandparents.

»That's not right. That's not fair."

The notion has gained a lot of traction in recent years — that an entire generation has behaved like selfish parents who, instead of bequeathing their house to their struggling offspring, trade it for a reverse mortgage and spend the money on cruises and country club memberships.

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«If you look at [younger Canadians'] life prospects, I think it's fair to say that they have had and will have a more difficult time of it than, say, my generation, who were quite lucky in the post-war period,» said economist Robin Boadway of Queens University.

That certainly seems to be the view of many who reached adulthood in an era when home ownership for those just starting out can seem like an unattainable dream. But the economic trends that skewed the balance of power between generations were decades in the making — and economists say one budget won't be enough to restore that balance.

«I'm kind of a boomer hater,» said a participant in a focus group organized by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in September. «They're the people telling us to just walk in and hand in a resume… but they're the people that