Flaherty launches pension consultations

Ideas collected during the campaign will be discussed at the next meeting of federal, provincial and territorial ministers of finance in May, where the retirement income system will be a key agenda item.

Public town hall meetings will be held in Charlottetown, Quebec City and Richmond, B.C. Roundtable discussions with invited key stakeholders, experts and representatives from provincial and territorial governments will take place in St. John’s, N.L., Winnipeg and London, Ont. And minister Flaherty is to speak at conferences hosted by the University of Calgary on April 12 and the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Toronto on May 4.

Individuals interested in participating in the online consultations can visit www.fin.gc.ca/activty/consult/retirement-eng.asp.

In May 2009 federal, provincial and territorial ministers of finance established a Research Working Group chaired by parliamentary secretary Ted Menzies to review Canada’s retirement system. At a December 2009 meeting in Whitehorse, two reports were presented to ministers of finance. Pension consultant Bob Baldwin’s report outlined broad failings in Canada’s pension coverage while University of Calgary professor Jack Mintz’s paper found that the majority of Canadians are saving enough for a comfortable retirement. The latter report was the analysis accepted by the ministers.

Ministers at all levels of governments have been tight-lipped recently as to what shape pension reforms might take. A previous push by the governments of Alberta and British Columbia to create a supplemental pension plan in lieu of a national solution has been shelved, and B.C. finance minister Colin Hansen has backed off from a promise to reform the province’s pension system in order to participate in the federal government’s current efforts.

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