Is one region favoured by Ottawa?

The following article by Andrew Parkin, Justin Savoie, and Charles Breton was published in Policy Options on May 23, 2023.

Discussions of how Canadians view their federation inevitably zero in on regional differences. Western Canadians are alienated, Quebecers are nationalist, Atlantic Canadians feel overlooked and Ontarians are more or less oblivious. The terms we use to describe these different outlooks – discontent, anger, resentment – may vary. But the unit of analysis remains constant: region. To understand the opinions that people hold, the main thing we need to know about them is where in the country they live. Or so we used to think.

What if we’re looking at it all wrong? There is growing evidence that what divides us, when it comes to views on how the federation works, is not where you live, but how old you are. Generation, not region, may be the country’s most important cleavage.

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