CUPE will continue working with the Canadian Labour Congress to hold the Harper government to its promise to improve Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits, says national president Paul Moist.
In the aftermath of the December 20 meeting of federal and provincial finance ministers, Moist condemned the double dealing of Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
“Stalling CPP improvements in favour of a private pooled pension scheme is bad for Canadians, but great for banks, insurance companies and the mutual fund industry,” says Moist. “Flaherty’s pooled registered pension plan fails to address the real needs of Canadians not able to save for retirement. It doesn’t even require employers to make any contributions and fulfill their responsibility to help fund the retirement needs of their workers.
“It will only leave Canadians exposed to gouging by the mutual fund industry, who charge the highest administration fees in the world,” adds Moist.
A recent CUPE/Environics poll shows that many Canadians don’t contribute to an RRSP contributions because they can’t afford to do so.
The good news out of the finance ministers meeting, Moist says, is that most provinces support CPP improvements as the best way to help Canadians save for retirement– and scolded the federal government for its last minute double dealing.
“There’s tremendous opportunities to work with provincial political leaders to pressure the feds to keep their commitment to improve the CPP,” Moist says.