Population aging is hardly a new topic. Canadians have been told for decades their country is aging fast. What they are only beginning to realize, however, is how unevenly Canada's regions are doing so. This phenomenon, which Richard Saillant calls the Great Demographic Imbalance, is similarly nothing new; it has been with us for half a century. Yet, until recently, few people had noticed it.
It can no longer be ignored.
The Great Demographic Imbalance is producting two Canadas: one that can likely sustain the status quo, and another in which governments could be stuck between the financial abyss and the politically suicidal prospect of turning their residents into second-class citizens.
In his foreword, Donald J. Savoie calls the Great Demographic Imbalance "one of the country's most demanding challenges for the next two decades." In A Tale of Two Countries, policy expert Richard Saillant explains in accessible, engaging language why this is so, and charts a path forward to ensure our future does not lead to the balkanization of the welfare state in Canada.