Continued opposition from Alberta is threatening to derail plans to improve the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) by the fall, as federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty originally planned.
Three months after Flaherty announced that a majority of his provincial and territorial counterparts supported a plan to strengthen Canada’s pension system, including the CPP, it appears unlikely that any new strategies could be put in place before 2011.
“The reality is there are not going to be concrete, actionable recommendations made by these working groups by then,” Keith Ambachtsheer, director of the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management, told the Globe and Mail.
Ambachtsheer has had discussions with provincial officials working on the current proposals to reform the pension system.
Two teams of bureaucrats are examining two possibilities: one is making enhancements to the existing CPP, and the other group is looking at ways to build a new option run by the private sector to serve workplaces where no company pension is offered.
Flaherty believed he would have a plan ready to implement by the next meeting of finance ministers in December. But Ambachtsheer isn’t that optimistic.
“I’d be surprised if either one of these tracks was developed far enough along to actually make a spring budget,” he said. “These are very complex areas.”
At best, by the end of 2010, the two broad proposals could be narrowed down to specific options, he said.
While most provinces and territories, along with Ottawa, support the idea of expanding the CPP, the government of Alberta remains opposed.
Quebec is also wavering on the concept.
Alberta’s government wants to see a plan that includes Canadians who currently don’t have a pension. Expanding the CPP doesn’t fit with that criteria. But Alberta does support the idea of creating a new private-sector option.
However, it’s unlikely that officials working on pension reform will want to abandon the idea of expanding the CPP, since the idea remains popular across the country.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is trying to counter the resistance from the Alberta government, releasing a survey that suggests two-thirds (66%) of Albertans support expanding CPP benefits.
CUPE conducted a similar poll in British Columbia, revealing that three out of four respondents say they would support an increase to CPP benefits.
“The widespread support for increasing CPP benefits sends a strong signal that Albertans want their government to be part of the solution to solve the pension and retirement income crisis faced by so many Canadians,” CUPE national president Paul Moist said in a release.
“Augmenting the CPP is viewed by many experts as the most cost-effective, secure way to help Canadians save more for their retirement,” he said.
Alberta’s support for the pension reforms could become critical — especially if Quebec remains non-committal — since the changes would require the support of at least two-thirds of the provincial and territorial legislative assemblies, comprising at least two-thirds of Canada’s population.
