The Missing Middle Podcast

In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down whether creating brand-new cities can actually solve Canada’s housing affordability crisis, how our metropolitan numbers compare globally, the failed history of planned-city experiments like Ontario's Townsend and Australia's Monarto, and why central planning can't replace the organic economic realities that make cities thrive.
Chapters:
00:00 Why Doesn’t Canada Build New Cities?
01:23 Canada Is Already Creating New Cities
03:10 Why Smaller Canadian Cities Are Growing Faster
04:37 Does Canada Actually Need More Cities?
09:20 Why Canada’s New City Plans Keep Failing
14:20 Can the Free Market Create New Cities?
16:20 Why Moving People Won’t Solve the Housing Crisis

Research:
UK New towns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_towns_in_the_United_Kingdom

Townsend:
https://haldimandpress.com/townsend-the-metropolitan-city-that-never-was/

Monarto:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarto,_South_Australia

Credits:
Mike Moffatt https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt
https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Sabrina Maddeaux https://x.com/SabrinaMaddeaux

Meredith Martin 
https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
https://bsky.app/profile/meredithmartin.bsky.social

Sean Foreman
@seanegertonforeman
https://bsky.app/profile/seanforeman.bsky.social

Cara Stern https://x.com/carastern
https://bsky.app/profile/carastern.bsky.social

University Of Ottawa Co-op Student
Francis Gabriel Carmona

Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/
Brought to you by the Missing Middle Initiative https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

We often talk about how politics caters to seniors at the expense of young people, and that part of the cure is to get more young voices into politics.

But what actually happens when a young outsider puts their name on the ballot for a major party leadership position?

In this episode of Answer Period, former Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Eric Lombardi joins us for a candid conversation about his outsider campaign, navigating the tension between sound-bite politics and deep policy, and the double-edged sword of social media in modern campaigns. We'll dive into the harsh realities facing young political outsiders, what it truly takes to challenge the establishment, and key takeaways for the next generation of leaders looking to make a real impact.

Credits:
Mike Moffatt 
https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt
https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Cara Stern 
https://x.com/carastern
https://bsky.app/profile/carastern.bsky.social

Meredith Martin 
https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
https://bsky.app/profile/meredithmartin.bsky.social

Sean Foreman
@seanegertonforeman
https://bsky.app/profile/seanforeman.bsky.social

Canadian Civil
youtube.com/CanadianCivil

Co-op Student
Francis Gabriel Carmona

Brought to you by the Missing Middle Initiative https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/
Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

Housing affordability is increasingly shaping how young people think about politics, political parties, and the future of democracy.
On this episode of DemograFix, Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern explore what research tells us about the relationship between the housing crisis and young people's political views across North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Does declining housing affordability deepen the divide between younger and older voters? Is it pushing young people away from centrist parties, or toward the left or right? And what happens when an entire generation starts to lose faith in its ability to ever own a home?
Mike puts six statements about housing and politics to Cara, drawing on academic research and polling data to explore how housing affordability is reshaping political priorities, polarization, voter engagement, and the desire for homeownership.

Chapters:
00:00 Housing Affordability Is a Global Crisis
01:26 Could the Housing Crisis Radicalize Young Voters?
03:45 Is Housing Widening the Generational Political Divide?
06:24 Is the Housing Crisis Polarizing Young Voters?
10:12 Is Housing Pushing Young People Left or Right?
13:11 How Housing Is Creating a New Class Divide
17:12 Is the Housing Crisis Driving Political Disengagement?
19:38 Do Young People Still Want to Own a Home?

Research/links:
The Dangerous Disillusionment of Young Canadians
https://macleans.ca/politics/the-dangerous-disillusionment-of-young-canadians/
How to lose friends and alienate people: The social and political consequences of Europe’s housing crisis: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17816858241274918 
Three inconvenient truths:How to stop housing radicalising the young and killing the political centre
https://www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/5.pdf 
Economy and Space piece
https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/241804034/0308518x211022363.pdf
What drives support for large-scale housing reform?
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19491247.2026.2630075
Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

Join us for an exclusive post-speech interview with Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers following her address to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and CFA Society Victoria.

In this conversation, Rogers sits down to unpack her frank speech on Canada's housing affordability dilemma. We discuss why interest rates are too blunt of a tool to fix housing, how Canada's heavy reliance on residential real estate impacts our national productivity, and what regulatory stress tests actually achieved versus what they couldn't fix. Plus, we dive into the trade-offs of measuring shelter costs in the CPI and what it will genuinely take to untangle the Canadian economy from the housing trap.

Research:
Canada’s housing market / Le marché canadien du logement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C9jD5xQJdM

Canada’s mortgage market—A question of balance Remarksby Carolyn Rogers at the Economic Club of Canada, November 6, 2024
https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/11/canadas-mortgage-market-a-question-of-balance/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt examine how Canada’s outdated Employment Insurance model leaves young professionals and gig workers behind during record spikes in youth unemployment. They explore why current rules penalize urban renters, how maximum benefits fall short of basic living costs, and what practical policy reforms could fix the system for the modern workforce.

Chapters:
00:00 Canada’s EI System Wasn’t Built for Today’s Workers
01:02 How Employment Insurance Became Outdated
02:16 How EI Eligibility Actually Works
03:10 Why Young Workers Are Falling Through the EI Gaps
06:23 EI Doesn’t Cover Most Gig Workers
07:38 The EI Rules That Punish Short-Term Jobs
09:24 What Happens When EI Runs Out?
11:11 Why Ottawa’s EI Fixes Aren’t Helping Young Workers
15:03 EI Benefits Don’t Go Very Far in Toronto
17:42 How We Could Actually Fix Employment Insurance

Research:
Statistics Canada - Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2024 (youth eligibility 50.3%, part-time 41.6%):
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/251029/dq251029a-eng.htm
Statistics Canada - Labour Force Survey, July 2026 (youth unemployment 12.6%):
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260807/dq260807a-eng.htm
Service Canada - EI regular benefits eligibility and the qualifying period rule:
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-regular-benefit/eligibility.html
Service Canada - EI benefit amount (55%, $729 weekly max, $68,900 MIE for 2026):
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-regular-benefit/benefit-amount.html
ESDC Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles - long-tenured worker definition and 20 extra weeks:
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/digest/chapter-1/extend-benefit-period.html
ESDC - EI Monitoring and Assessment Report 2024-25, Chapter 2 (34.4% entitlement exhaustion rate):
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/monitoring2025/chapter2.html
Canada Gazette SOR/2026-64 - 25.4% of unemployed were long-term unemployed in January 2026:
https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2026/2026-04-08/html/sor-dors64-eng.html
Rentals.ca March 2026 Rent Report - Toronto one-bedroom asking rent $2,206:
https://rentals.ca/blog/rentals-ca-march-2026-rent-report
Statistics Canada - Experiences of self-employed workers in Canada, 2023:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/240603/dq240603b-eng.htm
Canada Employment Insurance Commission - 2026 premium rate and $17.2B Operating Account deficit:
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/premium/rates2026.html
ESDC - EI modernization consultations, Phase 2 What We Heard report (2022):
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2022/09/government-of-canada-releases-report-on-phase-2-of-the-employment-insurance-modernization-consultations.html
IRPP - Canada's EI Is Once Again Failing Its Stress Test (benefit exhaustion as the coverage driver):
https://irpp.org/research-studies/ei-failing-stress/
C.D. Howe Institute - Should gig workers be covered by the EI regime? (the case against):
https://cdhowe.org/publication/providing-gig-workers-ei-no-easy-answer/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil