NDP against proposed Alberta pension plan

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on October 6, 2022.

A new report shows the UCP Government’s plan to withdraw Albertans from the Canada Pension Plan could cost Albertans more in the long term while increasing the risk to their retirement savings.

According to documents acquired by Postmedia from Employment and Social Development Canada, the province would have to meet three conditions to create its own pension plan: provide three years’ notice of its plan, enact legislation within a year after that, and then have the plan recognized by the federal government in council as comparable to the CPP.

Christina Gray, NDP Labour Critic, has said this plan is risky and causes needless stress to Albertans with a threat to gamble their savings away.

Gray introduced Bill 203, the Pension Protection Act, back in June 2020 but the bill did not pass in the legislature, along with another, Bill 208 (the Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act) going unpassed as well.

Though neither bill passed, the NDP does note over 60,000 Albertans have signed its petition at HandsOffMyCpp.ca.

“The CPP is successful, and why it is a model around the world for retirement security is that it can pool investment risk across the country,” said Shannon Phillips, MLA for Lethbridge West, in an interview with the Herald. “Albertans have spoken loud and clear, now some of these ideas are coming up because of the leadership race. It is very clear from the documents that show how risky, expensive, and time-consuming withdrawing Alberta from the CPP is.”

Phillips notes it would be a gamble due to the risks involved in the process, while noting withdrawing Alberta from the CPP could result in a large amount of debt because of future liability for everyone who is on CPP, along with having to build an entirely new pension plan infrastructure.

“Which is a lot of new bureaucracy, a lot of new public servants to be able to administer such a complex program,” said Phillips.

Hoping to shed light on the issue of withdrawal from the CPP, the NDP wants Albertans to be aware of the issues surrounding this decision and have the knowledge towards securing their futures.

“The good news is, that regardless of who wins the UCP leadership, it is a two or three-year process, and it is not up to them,” said Phillips. “They do not decide. No UCP politician gets to gamble with our CPP retirement savings, because there will be an election in the meantime. There will be a choice of whether we take on these increased risks.”