Posts Tagged ‘pensions’
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Fix CPP, not OAS, to head off a pension crisis
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Feb 20 2012
Making sure that Canadian workers can retire in comfort is possible in only two ways: Require workers to contribute more of their employment income to pension plans, or require workers to stay employed longer… However, increasing the age of eligibility for OAS from the current 65 will not accomplish either. Workers do not contribute to the OAS, and it is paid to all, not only workers. So increasing its age of eligibility will not increase the retirement security of older Canadians, but rather make it more precarious.
Tags: economy, pensions, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 1 Comment »
Stephen Harper’s scary scenario about Old Age Security is wildly overblown, budget watchdog argues
Sunday, February 12th, 2012
Feb 11 2012
After parsing the numbers, Page concluded that the crisis is a manufactured one. “You cannot argue the government has a fiscal sustainability problem”… There’s talk of hiking the OAS eligibility age to, say, 67 from 65. Ottawa could also claw back more benefits from better-off retirees. Or partially de-index benefits that now rise to offset inflation… Making seniors wait until 67 for OAS could mean that the very poorest would have to wait longer to get the Guaranteed Income Supplement, a linked benefit. The cost of helping these neediest may then fall to the provinces.
Tags: budget, pensions
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
OAS not in crisis, no need to soak the seniors plan
Sunday, February 12th, 2012
Feb 10 2012
The affordability of a higher-quality health care system does merit debate. Also affordable housing, the cornerstone of poverty reduction. Also education reform that better matches students with a workplace that, as a business think tank complained last week, is suffering a “desperate shortage” of skilled workers despite 1.42 million Canadians out of work. The PM is wrong about the sustainability of Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, paid to the poorest Canadians. And Canadians have let him know it.
Tags: budget, economy, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Prime Minister Stephen Harper boasts about Canada’s economic performance while jobs vanish and pensions shrink
Friday, February 10th, 2012
Feb 09 2012
What we are seeing is a power shift. Governments and corporations are limiting their risk exposure at the expense of their citizens and employees. This trend is not new, but it accelerated sharply in 2012. We knew Harper had no intention of bolstering public pensions. But no one imagined he would make life harder for seniors, without any warning or public discussion.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Let’s debate OAS based on fact, not perception
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Feb. 06, 2012
OAS is taxable income, so a lot of the moneys paid out go straight back to Ottawa… If your income exceeds $67,668, then you lose your OAS at a 15-per-cent clawback rate. If you have income of $110,123 or more, you get no OAS at all… It’s well known that wealthy Canadians live longer than poorer Canadians… So two key questions need to be addressed. First, is raising the age of eligibility for OAS really necessary, or is the system sustainable as is? Second, how does one justify a public policy shift that’s so clearly regressive in its impact?
Tags: budget, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
Harper’s pension reform moves breed needless resentment
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
Feb 02 2012
Harper doesn’t want ideas. He wants a quick, made-in-Ottawa solution… He has a parliamentary majority. What he can’t do is stop Canadians from questioning his rationale (numerous actuarial reports show Old Age Security is affordable); questioning his motives (streamlined environmental rules would help oil producers); and questioning his trustworthiness (despite his claims to the contrary, immigrants fear he will restrict the intake of “non-productive’ newcomers such as grandparents, siblings and refugees.)…
Tags: immigration, participation, pensions
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Not a pension crisis, but reform opportunity
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
February 2, 2012
Lowering the threshold at which the OAS is taxed back would have the same effect on the bottom line as pushing back the age of eligibility, but it would still allow people to retire without fearing poverty at 65. Rather than legislate a solution during the current session of Parliament, the government should publish a white paper that lays out the problem that needs to be solved along with a range of possible solutions… An equitable solution should leave no aggrieved interests for opportunistic politicians to champion.
Tags: budget, ideology, pensions, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Best pension reform would be to take from the rich seniors
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
Feb. 2, 2012
A much savvier political option for the Harper Conservatives than raising Old Age Security eligibility to 67 from 65 would be taxing back all benefits from all 65-plus seniors not decidedly low income. If they do anything else, they will be pegged as mean-spirited and excessively ideological. Because the truth is, Canada, while better off than most developed countries, continues to have a fair number of low-income seniors, mostly women – a group that inspires empathy from most Canadians.
Tags: budget, featured, pensions, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Anger rising over plan to reform OAS
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Feb. 2, 2012
“He is not only dumping on the vulnerable senior citizens,” Rae told the House of Commons. “He is also dumping on the provinces, dumping on municipalities, creating a cascade of injustice because of a totally manufactured crisis on his side.” Harper shrugged off the accusation, calling his assertions “nonsense” and “fear-mongering.” Harper reiterated in the Commons Wednesday the planned changes to the pension system won’t affect today’s seniors or those close to turning 65.
Tags: budget, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Pension reform raises questions about effect in provinces
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Feb. 02, 2012
Several provinces require citizens to prove they receive the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors to qualify for their own programs aimed at helping poor seniors… If Ottawa raises the current eligibility age of 65 for Old Age Security and the GIS… it would impact these other programs… The GIS is a top-up program tied to Old Age Security… [which] can only be claimed by seniors with incomes under $16,368… “The interaction with provincial programs will exacerbate the impact on low-income seniors”
Tags: budget, ideology, pensions, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
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