CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh says, “Today’s federal budget from the Harper government will do little to help our province with its economic recovery.
“Letting wages remain stagnant, cutting benefits, clawing back pensions and eroding vital public services is going to do nothing to stimulate our economy,” says Cavanagh.
“We have tens of thousands of federal government workers in this province who are being punished for having decent-paying jobs and pensions that allow them to retire with some sort of dignity. How is this punitive budget contributing to the quality of life of working Canadians,” asks Cavanagh.
“Eleven million Canadians are without a workplace pension plan and almost 75 per cent don’t contribute to RRSPs because they can’t afford to. And yet the best they can come up with is so-called ‘pooled’ pension plans? Even Ontario’s finance minister has said this scheme is useless,” says Cavanagh.
“Meanwhile, cuts to Old Age Security will only make the retirement security crisis worse,” he says.
Cavanagh says there is a better way – one that recognizes and embraces our responsibility to provide for our families, contribute to our communities, and to take care of our fellow Canadians. That starts with a tax system where everyone pays their fair share, even CEOs and investment bankers.