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. “It’s wrong to blame boomers for Britain’s inequality and economic woes. It’s more complicated than that, says Rosa Anderson” 1 This follows journalist Phillip Inman’s article of August 2025, titled, “Can a nation in crisis rely on the baby boomer generation to step up? I think the UK is about to find out.” 1.1 Apparently, there’s a narrative attributing to Baby Boomers, fault for Britain’s problems: economic inequality, housing crisis, pension burdens, Brexit, etc. Such is being propagated in newspapers, radio, TV and social media.
After googling, I discovered this was a real thing. I found it’s not limited to the UK. Indeed, it’s widespread across the world. I’m both surprised and saddened by such a proposition. 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., an American cultural historian, wrote, “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
Here’s my take of the facts.
- Demographic trend. Yes, there’s a worldwide demographic trend of increasing numbers of older individuals within a population.
- 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 due to the mal-intent of Boomers. Nor is the difficulty in finding a doctor. And increased demand on the pension program is not the result of wrong-doing on the part of Boomers.
- 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 accurate to say that Baby Boomers are comparatively speaking, a wealthy generation. But on the other hand,
- this is a generalization – not everyone from this age segment are living in the lap of luxury.
- In any event, we shouldn’t blame those who worked hard, saved their money and invested wisely. Instead, we should admire them.
- Let’s also recognize the phenomenon where individuals prefer to point fingers at those with more power or status to lessen their own responsibility.
- Economic woes. Yes, there are problems. These have led to issues such as high unemployment, inflation, debt crises, and a decrease in overall living standards. Many of the contributing factors have nothing to do with seniors. Indeed, poor government policy, global economic shift, natural disasters, political instability, and resource scarcity are a few examples.
IT’S NOT ILLEGAL, BUT IT SHOULD BE
It’s not just unfair to express and repeat in public the view that seniors are the cause of a county’s financial hardship. First, it’s not objectively true. Instead, it’s a belief. In effect, this is something of a ‘conspiracy theory.’ It may not be a contravention of the law; but in my opinion, it violates the spirit of the law. Indeed, it meets some of the criteria of illegality: discrimination, hate speech.This is a ‘disparaging comment.’ I’s not merely an age-relative slur. It makes a distinction based on age attributing greater blame, such against the rule of full and equal human rights and freedoms. It incites ill-will against an ‘identifiable group.’ More, it’s irresponsible to utter such inflammatory statements in the context of the current landscape. The Mental Health Foundation states: “The cost-of-living is causing widespread mental distress, leading to many people feeling stressed, anxious and hopeless. And many can’t meet basic needs, like heating their homes or eating enough.”7 Speakers are singling out Boomers – making them a scapegoat. And of course, scapegoating poses a risk!
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, “At this junction in the economic cycle, Britain is facing hard times. The same can be said for Canada. And yes, Baby Boomers have reached a certain stage in their life journey. But the circumstance of this generation is just a fact of life – not the root cause of economic hard times. Instead of pointing fingers, let’s try and figure out solutions to our problems – everyone pitching in! And you can quote me on that.” **
Allan Gold, lawyer Montreal and elder law attorney
P.S. One more thing – let’s not forget that Boomers are the offspring of persons, whom journalist Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation.” 9 And during the sixties, Boomers drove social and political change, fighting current norms and systemic inequalities!
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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
1.1 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. Mental Health Foundation’s Post Nov 21 2023
8. Palliative Care McGill, “In Loving Memory of Dr. Balfour Mount” Sept. 29, 2025
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Generation_(book)
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