OTTAWA – The Liberal Party of Canada is calling on the government to institute a Supplemental Canada Pension Plan as a low-cost way of reducing the three-quarters of private sector workers who have no registered retirement savings.
“We welcome any reforms that allow more options for retirement savings,” said Liberal Seniors and Pensions Critic Judy Sgro. “This must include providing Canadians without a private plan the option of a Supplemental CPP.”
Last December, the Liberal Party proposed a voluntary Supplementary Canada Pension Plan to help more Canadians save more through our trusted national pension.
A new TD report, released yesterday, found that of all policy options, a supplemental public pension plan has the advantage. The report states that while a “majority of retirees are maintaining their standard of living after leaving the work-force… Forecasts of the personal savings rate and household balance sheets suggest that the ‘at-risk’ population of retirees will increase in coming decades.”
“As we learned at the groundbreaking Canada at 150 conference in Montreal, with Canada’s aging population, we have no choice but to pursue bold options to help Canadians save for their retirement,” said Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum. “Liberals are prepared to offer Canadians a plan that will make a significant difference for middle-class families who are planning for their retirements.”
Liberals also proposed a stranded pension agency to give employees whose companies have gone bankrupt the option of growing their pension assets through the Canada Pension Plan, as well as changes to the Bankruptcy Act to give the most vulnerable on long-term disability preferred status as creditors.
Pension reform is part of the Liberal care agenda, which — alongside our priorities of learning and renewed Canadian global leadership — stands in stark contrast to the Conservative government’s priorities of $6 billion in tax cuts for Canada’s largest corporations and the wasteful squandering of taxpayer funds at the G20.
Keywords: CPP
