Ontario has given itself the role of broker. In an interview, Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said he’ll be presenting his own list of options and his own research report at the Whitehorse meeting.
For him, the meeting will be a success if finance ministers can agree to a short-list of reform options, a firm timeline to make decisions, an agreement on the strengths of the existing system, and a commitment to hold a national summit on pensions sometime soon.
“I do believe we should have a pan-Canadian response. I don’t think provinces should go off on their own,” he said.
Like Ottawa, he believes broad public consultations are necessary before final decisions are made.
But, significantly for the western provinces, he said using the CPP as a cornerstone for future reform “has some appeal.”
It’s not the only option that needs to be considered, however, since the financial services sector also offers many appealing options that could be made far more effective with some legislative tweaking and tax incentives, he said.
“We’ve got to look at all the pillars of retirement savings,” he added.
Keywords: pension reform
