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Charlottetown - The President of CUPE PEI is urging the Ghiz Government to continue pushing for reforms to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), despite the federal finance minister’s dismissal of the urgent need for change.

Lori MacKay says, “The expectations from people across the country were that maybe this time we would get something done.  Instead, Flaherty slammed the door in the faces of the 19 million working Canadians, 11 million of whom don’t have workplace pensions.”

MacKay says Islanders should be outraged that the Harper government would fly in all those ministers to talk about enhancing the CPP, and then not talk about enhancing the CPP.

“Jim Flaherty is being completely disingenuous with Canadians when he calls enhancements to CPP a payroll tax.  They are deferred wages. And there is no basis for claiming the economy would suffer. When premiums were increased in the early 90s, the economy and employment actually grew.”

CUPE supports a modest, phased-in increase in premiums that would allow for an eventual doubling of benefits for all working Canadians and the Ghiz Government is proposing something similar.

Says MacKay, “There is no question the Canada Pension Plan model is a good one. However, if we don’t soon do something to enhance it, the next generation, twenty, thirty years down the road, is going to be lost.”


For information: 

Lori MacKay    
President, CUPE PEI    
(902) 626-1112 (m)   

John McCracken
CUPE Communications Rep.
(902) 880-8057 (m)