The president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) says that the federal government is deliberately trying to sabotage federal-provincial talks aimed at improving the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
Talks aimed at expanding the CPP have been occurring for several years, but CLC president Ken Georgetti says Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has repeatedly dragged his feet.
In December 2012, Flaherty and the provincial finance ministers had decided to ask officials to report back in June with options for reforming the CPP.
“There’s no consensus on CPP expansion at this time,” Flaherty said at the time. “The ministers did agree that we would task our officials with working on definitions of ‘modest increase’ and ‘economic triggers’ that we would then discuss at our next meeting in June.”
“June is almost over, and no meeting has been called,” says Georgetti. “The minister is deliberately trying to sabotage talks to improve the CPP.”
“Mr. Flaherty prefers to listen to special interest groups, such as the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business [CFIB], which don’t want to pay their share toward improving pensions for working Canadians.”
On Tuesday, the Fraser Institute released a study that suggested CPP expansion could lead to a decrease in RRSP contributions by Canadians. And, in May, the CFIB said a hike in CPP rates would have a negative effect on the Canadian economy.
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