Young Canadians Voted Against Spending Orgy, But Their Insulated Parents Won

David Agren

Younger Canadians stuck living with their parents and unable to afford starting families supported the Conservative Party. Liberals won.

The most memorable meme of the recent Canadian election campaign emerged from the line outside an Ontario microbrewery, where an older Liberal Party supporter named Matt Janes flashed two middle fingers to protesters agitating against Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The obscenity went viral — with Janes becoming infamous as the Brantford Boomer — not just for its crass vulgarity, but for exposing the deep generational divide in Canada.

Polls showed Canadians boomers overwhelmingly backing the successful Liberal campaign, which Carney centered on confronting U.S. President Donald Trump and his threats to annex the country. Younger Canadians stuck living with their parents and unable to afford starting families supported the Conservative Party, which campaigned on cost-of-living issues, combating crime, and reversing what leader Pierre Poilievre branded the “lost decade” of economic malaise under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

A survey from Nanos Research on the eve of the Apr. 28 election showed 52 percent of Canadians over age 55 supporting the Liberals versus just 33.5 percent backing the Conservatives. But the Conservatives drew support from 41 percent of Canadians aged 18 to 34 versus 32 percent for the Liberals and 13 percent for the left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP). In the 35 to 54 age cohort, the Conservatives received 46 percent support versus 39 percent for the Liberals.

Trudeau’s Approach and More Spending

Younger people flocked to the Liberals in 2015, drawn by Trudeau’s celebrity, “sunny ways” campaign, and promises such as electoral reform and legalizing marijuana. (He abandoned the first and followed through on the latter.) His progressive approach to politics was summed up by his pithy comments after appointing a sex-balanced cabinet, “Because it’s 2015.”

But younger voters in 2025 prioritized issues such as housing and affordability over the Liberal platform, which promised an orgy of spending in line with Trudeau’s track record.

“Mark Carney’s party’s policies made owning a house impossible for younger Canadians. All my friends talk about emigrating or have done so,” said Yuan Yi Zhu, a conservative commentator in an X post. “And Carney has the cheek to say the way to fix this is to re-elect the Liberals.”

The election returned the previously embattled Liberals to power, falling three seats short of a majority in parliament, meaning Carney needs the support of a minor party to pass legislation.