Susan Eng and Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State for Seniors

We continue to take our message to the Nation’s Capital. Starting with the Newsmaker’s Breakfast on Pensions hosted by CUPE and attended by members of the Parliament Hill Press Gallery. Along with Bernard Dussault, the former Chief Actuary of the CPP, a former Nortel worker, a national labour leader and a young call centre – worker, CARP laid out recommendations for pension reform.

The chair of the Ottawa Chapter, Janet Gray, joined Susan Eng in meeting with Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State for Seniors and her Chief of Staff. We covered a full range of our advocacy issues and the importance of meeting the challenges of the demographic shift. Caregiver support and encouraging employers to retain older workers as well as getting rid of mandatory retirement for federally regulated industries are CARP advocacy priorities that would help address this challenge. Such measures would divert demand form the public health care system and allow people to continue to contribute to the labour force and the economy. Pension reform contributes to the financial security of retirees and the economy as a whole.

Our message was similarly taken to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition – literally. It was actually John Diefenbaker’s office when he was Prime Minister. He stayed put after he lost the election and it has been the Opposition leader’s office ever since.

The Ottawa Chapter Board is very interested in taking CARP’s issues to the Ottawa Municipal elections. Watch this space for developments. If you have ideas about changes in your own municipalities, let us know.

All in a day’s work…

Susan Eng in the Official Leader of the Opposition’s Office

Keywords: pension reform