September 30, 2025 - Posted by: Allan Gold - In category: Small Business Law - No responses

Gold’s Legal Minute*GLM*

By Allan Gold, lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney

Vol. 16, #8 – Sept. 30, 2025

OPENING

I need to share. I read something the other day. Apparently, a certain Phillip Inman wrote a published piece, blaming boomers “for Britain’s inequality and economic woes.” Excuse me! What did you say? That’s stupidly surprising!

In response, there came an article titled, “It’s wrong to blame boomers for Britain’s inequality and economic woes.” 1 I agree with that statement. After googling, I discovered this was a real thing. As a lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney, I need to add my two cents worth.

WHO ARE BABY BOOMERS & HOW DID THEY GET THIS LABEL?

Dora Mekouar said it succinctly: “People born approximately between 1946 to 1964 have been dubbed Baby Boomers because of the sharp increase in birth rates after World War II.” 2

WHAT ARE THE COMPLAINTS?

Lawrence R. Samuel Ph.D. responded as follows: “In a nutshell, according to many boomer-critics out there, the generation deserves principal blame for most, if not all, of the biggest problems of the country and the world. “Boomers soaked up a lot of economic opportunity without bothering to preserve much for the generations to come,” posited Jim Tankersley, a writer for the Washington Post, the following year, thinking that their main legacy was having “burned a lot of cheap fossil fuels and filling the atmosphere with heat-trapping gases.” 3

THERE ARE MORE BABY BOOMERS – CANADA IS AGING

In an article dated, September 23, 2024,titled, “The older people are all right,” Statistics Canada announced, “Canada’s population is rapidly aging, with baby boomers mostly retired or retiring soon, Canadians living longer and fewer births. Approximately 7.6 million Canadians were aged 65 and older on July 1, 2023, accounting for almost one-fifth (18.9%) of the total population. By 2030, seniors could represent from 21.4% to 23.4% of the total population.” 4

LET’S GET REAL

Demographic trend. Yes, there’s a worldwide demographic trend of increasing numbers of older individuals within a population. There are reasons for this.
Post War Birth Surge. Yes, there was a baby boom between 1946 to 1964
Increased human longevity. “People worldwide are living longer. Today most people can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older persons in the population. “ 5 Contributing factors are:
- Lifestyle. Wise lifestyle choices increase human life.
- Improvements in medical science. Innovations improve disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Impact on society. Yes, there’s pressure on the health network and the pension system. But the greying of the population is no reason for playing the blame game. Increased wait times at hospital is not the fault of Boomers. Nor is the difficulty in finding a doctor. And increased demand on the pension program is not the cause of wrong-doing on the part of Boomers.

Inman speaks of Britain’s inequality and economic woes.

Income inequality. Yes, there’s “income inequality.” Such is “the difference in how income is distributed among the population.” 6 But people born between 1946 and 1964 are not responsible for that. I will admit that it’s generally true that Baby Boomers are a wealthy generation. But not everyone from this age segment are living in the lap of luxury. In any event, let’s recognize the phenomenon where individuals prefer to point fingers at those with more power or status to lessen their own responsibility. Surely, we shouldn’t blame those who worked hard, saved their money and invested wisely. Instead, we should admire them.
Economic woes. Yes, there are problems. Poor government policy, global economic shift, natural disasters, political instability, and resource scarcity are facts of life. Such could lead to issues such as high unemployment, inflation, debt crises, and a decrease in overall living standards. But people aged 79 +- did not wake up one morning and decide it’s a good day to create economic hard times.

STUFF IT!

These facts aren’t directly causally linked. Indeed, Baby Boomers aren’t at fault for being born. And let’s not forget they’re the offspring of persons, whom journalist Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation.” 7 Furthermore, these kids of “The Greatest Generation” have accomplished much in their own right.

IT SMELLS A LOT LIKE DISCRIMINATION

This situation or action targeting an identifiable group.feels prejudiced or unfair.

IN MEMORIAM

Today, I received notification of the passing of Dr. Balfour Mount at Montreal, Quebec, on September 29, 2025.
“Fifty years ago in 1975, Dr. Mount launched the world’s first Palliative Care Unit and Service in Montreal, a groundbreaking initiative that became the template for global practice. Widely acknowledged as the “father” of palliative care, Dr Mount coined the term ‘Palliative Care’ to designate this novel combination of British hospice, American thanatology and Canadian academic medicine.” 8

He was a giant in the development of palliative care. As a lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney, I say, “We owe him a great debt. He made a difference in our lives. We owe him a debt of gratitude.”

NOTEWORTHY

Allan J Gold is now featured in FeedSpot Top 90 Canada Law Blogs. Check it out at https://bloggers.feedspot.com/canada_law_blogs/

CONCLUSION

As a lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney, I say “Baby Boomers are being made a scapegoat. Scapegoating is always wrong. Instead of pointing fingers, let’s try and figure out solutions to our problems- everyone pitching in! And you can quote me on that.” And you can quote me on that.**

Allan Gold, lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney

! Check out my other LinkedIn articles at https://lnkd.in/dn4KSRG
!! Should you wish to peruse a variety of articles I have written, please visit https://allanjgold.com/blog-glm/
!!! Call to action: To every attorney in the field, I say, “Write a post/article. Let’s help seniors & their families become better informed about elder law Canada! And by the way, please send it along. I’d love to read it.”

NOTICE – CAUTION –DISCLAIMER. The material provided herein is of a general nature, strictly for informational purposes. The interpretation and analysis is not to be misapplied to a personal situation with a particular set of facts. Under no circumstances, are the herein suggestions and tips, intended to bring a reader to the point of acting or not acting, but instead, the hope is that they are to be a cause for pause and reflection. It is specifically declared that this content is not to be a replacement of, or a substitution for, legal or any other appropriate advice. To the contrary, for more information on these presents, related subjects or any other questions, it is the express recommendation of the author that everyone seek out and consult a qualified professional or competent adviser.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/sep/25/its-wrong-to-blame-boomers-for-britains-inequality-and-economic-woes
2. https://www.voanews.com/a/baby-boomers-millennials-gen-z-who-names-generations-/7581626.html
3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/boomers-30/202001/are-baby-boomers-a-good-or-bad-generation
4. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/7059-older-people-are-all-right
5. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
6. https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/income-inequality.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Generation_(book)
8. Palliative Care McGill, “In Loving Memory of Dr. Balfour Mount” Sept. 29, 2025

Allan J Gold

Lawyer

“Boomers are to blame for Britain’s inequality and economic woes.” I’m outraged someone articulated such a stupidity!”**

LET’S GET REAL

STUFF IT!