Pension plan pull-out could be an ‘oops’
By Lethbridge Herald on October 7, 2023.
Editor:
I am an American and should not comment on Canadian affairs, however in September we spent a night traveling through Lethbridge and I happened to read a copy of the Herald.
The specific article that caught my attention was an article about a proposal for Alberta to pull out of the Canada Pension Plan.
The promises made on the benefits to Alberta’’s residents from pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan reminded of the same promises made to the United Kingdom citizens on pulling out of the EU.
Please consider the fact you cannot predict the future so clearly and do not undertake what I would call PenEx, it could similar unintended consequence, which I call the oops factor.
Joe Hall
Santa Cruz, CA
8-7
Trouble is our premier is catering to those in Alberta who would gladly embrace MAGA ideology and to hell with the rest (the majority) of society. (There is still hope in The Great White North however, as we now have a left leaning indigenous leader in Manitoba, so maybe that is a sign of changes to come.)
Lol how does not wanting to give aways alberta’s money to other provinces that are hostile to alberta interests ( like Quebec lol ) makes people maga? Typical left calling people names to try and discredit ideas that don’t serve their agenda.
The reference was to a MAGA Ideology, the attributes of which include but are not limited to extreme partisanship, Right-of-Centre populism, isolationism, and belligerent and confrontational political rhetoric.
Remind you of anyone?
Exactly!
Our Premier is catering to those in Alberta who would gladly embrace Quebec ideology and like Quebec to hell with the rest of us. There fixed it for you. Has nothing to do with MAGA or your TDR
Why all the fuss? If this plan is to become reality, it will have to go to a referendum. It will ultimately be the people of Alberta, not the UCP Premier, not the NDP, but the people who it most impacts who will decide on it.
Yes, the promised referendum. My concern is that in a referendum many Albertans will vote in favour of the Premier’s CPP plan not because it’s in their interest but because they are angry with the Federal Government in general and the current PM in particular. My worry is that many folks will vote out of ire and resentment, much as what happened in relation to Brexit, and in so doing will vote against self-interest.
And who will the winners be? Big Oil, that’s who. I’ll bet money that if successful, Premier Smith’s government will rewrite the mandate of the pension fund, downplaying profit maximization, which is the current mandate of the CPP, in favour of propping up Big Oil.
So ask yourself this: When was the last time that Big Oil had our backs? During the last downturn in oil prices, for instance, did Big Oil executives take a pay cut to avoid layoffs? Did the shareholders in the Big Oil companies agree to take a lower dividend payment or suspend a dividend payment to avoid layoffs? Not on your life! How many times does Big Oil need to steal our milk money before we clue in? When was the last time that Big Oil had our backs instead of looking after their own? And don’t forget that most of the shares of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies are foreign owned. Whose interests do you think those shareholders are looking out for?