You, are old. I’m old. Right now, right this second, we’re the oldest we have ever been in our lives. And becoming older is representing a serious problem in Canadian society today.
Recently, the United States recently almost fell down an economic crisis called the fiscal cliff. It would have resulted in economic recession throughout the US and would have affected many parts of the world. Yet Canada doesn’t have the fiscal cliff to worry about. We have something much more grave and serious: the demographic cliff.
We don’t have enough workers to support the aging population of Canada, especially as the baby boomers are starting to retire. Every one minute and two seconds, someone in Canada turns 65 years old. So what does that mean? It means that less people are going to be in the work force, therefore, less people are going to pay more taxes and more people are going to receive social services from the limited amount of taxes that the government has.
Within the last couple of decades, our country and world has had tremendous amounts of economic growth thanks to the work of the baby boomer generation. That generation had supported previous generations with their taxes, and now they’re in a position where they’re going to be the ones who need the social services – and Canadians like you and I will have to foot that bill.
But it’s harder for the younger generation to keep up with the amount they need to pay, not because of the large number of people in the baby boomer generation, but because they aren’t having enough children. The average birthrate in Canada in 2012 was 1.59 children per woman, while during the baby boom period it was 3.7 children per women. Furthermore, with medical advancements and a better quality of life, people are living longer. They are using social services longer than ever, and as many of you know, it has put a major strain on health care. We have to wait hours upon hours before we can see the doctor for 5 minutes at the emergency room.
So, how do we solve this issue of maintaining a healthy demographic in Canada while ensuring that all Canadians who have worked hard will receive equal and plentiful benefits?
I believe that there are two plausible solutions for this:
- Open borders to let any and all immigrants come in, excluding those with criminal records, contagious diseases, or those who are enemies of the state.
- Give incentives for people to have more children.
Right now, there are industries that lack new workers. By altering the point system, we would give more points to people who have specialized knowledge in the sectors we have a lack of workers in, whether it be urban planning, construction, or agriculture. Immigrants who have wanted to come to Canada will now be able to do so in an easier and expeditious way, benefitting both themselves and Canada as a whole. With this, it will provide a short-term relief through being able to ensure that Canadians will not be overburdened with taxes.
Author’s note: this was a topic inspired by the debate topic from a couple months back, and is solely the author’s humble opinion.
Never give up, never surrender.
~Ian