It is as if the Ontario and Federal governments are trying to out-do each other in talking about generous pensions. It’s an election fever topic suitable to broad boundaries, much like “transit” is the only thing on the minds of civic candidates. Phillip Cross in the Financial Post says stop it already with the talk of more pension plans. Canadian seniors have never been more affluent. For those who need help, the Feds can target families or singles as required. What the province does not need, says Cross, is another Ontario pension plan (“the big CPP”) with another payroll-tax slush fund and more million-dollar men at the top. We have to pay millions you know “to get the best people.” Anyway, Cross questions the assumptions behind the drive for “big CPP” by saying there simply is no crisis in Canada’s current retirement system. People are living longer, healthier and wealthier lives in retirement, largely the result of their own actions. The few pockets of poverty among seniors, such as single or widowed elderly women who have never worked, are best addressed by better targeting government benefits, he contends, not by a wholesale expansion of the CPP. Financial Post (may require subscription) Incidentally, it is worth noting that enormous debt like that sadly stacked up in Ontario tends to cast all governance in a poor light. Do we think that political parties have served us well? Not likely.
