Posts Tagged ‘pensions’
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Ontario woman entitled to sympathy, not benefits, court rules
Friday, September 9th, 2011
Sep 9, 2011
An Ontario court has scolded the province’s Social Benefits Tribunal for giving disability benefits to a mother of four who did not even try to work, and had only minor or easily treated ailments… Under the law, a person is disabled if and only if they have a continuous or recurring physical or mental impairment, verified by an expert and expected to last a year or more, that results in a “substantial restriction” in their ability to function in the community and workplace.
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, pensions
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 4 Comments »
Disabling effect of Ontario Disability Benefits
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Aug 31 2011
It has been 20 years since anyone took a look at social assistance rates in this province, to which end a provincial commission has been on tour… The rates themselves are disabling… we don’t get enough money, period, end of sentence… [another] issue? “The quagmire of rules. You can’t keep track of them all… You don’t even know all the benefits you’re entitled to.”
Tags: disabilities, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | 2 Comments »
You’re Poorer than You Think
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
2 Aug 2011
Shaw Communications chief executive officer Jim Shaw recently retired at the age of just 53. His pension is $16,000. A day. Every day of the year. That’s almost $6 million annually… ordinary folks depend on the Canada Pension Plan, which pays a maximum of about $11,500 a year and an average of just $6,000, and any personal savings for their retirement. But a third of working-age Canadians don’t have a Registered Retirement Savings Plan or similar investments. And those with an RRSP will only get on average less than $300 a month when they finish working.
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Pension lessons for Canada from Down Under
Monday, August 8th, 2011
Aug 07 2011
The Australian “superannuation” system offers a way to move the financial burden of retirement away from the hurly-burly of workplace negotiation and to largely remove the threat of retirement poverty… As well as voluntary savings and a means-tested government pension similar to the Canadian OAS, Australia has an earnings-based pension system called “superannuation” that covers virtually all full- and part-time workers. The contributions are mandated by law and are paid solely by the employer… Employees are free to top up these contributions but are under no obligations to do so.
Tags: ideology, pensions, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
No answers for those without pensions
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
Aug 2, 2011
Labour’s proposal to double CCP benefits would ensure adequate income in retirement for all working Canadians and could be phased in gradually at a modest increase in premiums. CPP premiums are not a payroll tax, and the CFIB’s continued portrayal of them as a tax is disingenuous. These premiums fund a secure pension system that is cost-efficient, well run, and the envy of many countries. Over 70% of Canadians surveyed support our proposed gradual increase to CPP contributions.
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Harper could make better pensions a legacy
Monday, August 1st, 2011
July 30, 2011
The present system, especially RRSPs, disproportionately helps those with good, steady incomes… A more generously funded public system could cushion the most vulnerable and ease the retirement of the middle class, while offering low overhead, the benefits of shared risk and relatively small increases in individual contributions… despite opposition, and the potential election of Tim Hudak, a Harris clone, as premier of Ontario, a determined prime minister, with skill, nerve and public support could at least launch incremental improvements to a vital social program.
Tags: ideology, participation, pensions, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Sour taste in ‘sweet’ Tory pension plan
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Jul 21 2011
…Menzies is now promoting is a voluntary, privately administered scheme for companies without a pension plan, their employees and self-employed workers… Sixty per cent of Canadian workers — 75 per cent in the private sector — have no pension. But it won’t protect workers’ savings from market turbulence nor will it provide post-retirement security. There is no guarantee that any of these pooled pension plans will be large enough to be sustainable…. It is certainly better than nothing. But it is a second-best solution and a poor substitute for strengthening the Canada Pension Plan
Tags: ideology, pensions, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Social Security Debates | No Comments »
Retirement security needed for all
Saturday, July 16th, 2011
July 15, 2011
Those who oppose decent retirement incomes go to great lengths to misrepresent public-sector worker pension plans. Public-sector workers make significant contributions to pay for future pension benefits. An average pension for a 30-year employee would be a modest $17,900 a year. But that’s not the point. The point is that all Canadians should have a right to a secure income in our retirement years.
Tags: ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Pension overkill
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Jul. 13, 2011
… the IRPP study suggests expanding mandatory savings by expanding the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Similar to all the other proposals, this latest one is overkill for a policy issue that has seriously been overblown, and comes with a number of adverse consequences… those with low earning levels achieve higher rates of earnings replacement through government benefits. Hence the problem is not about senior citizens living in poverty. In fact, OECD rankings show that Canada has the second lowest poverty rate for senior citizens after the Netherlands.
Tags: ideology, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
Our Lefty Military
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
June 15, 2011
As we search for paths out of America’s economic crisis, many suggest business as a paradigm for cutting costs… top C.E.O.’s earn as much as $1 a second around the clock, partly by cutting medical benefits for employees. So they must be paragons of efficiency, right? …The business sector is dazzlingly productive, but it also periodically blows up our financial system. Yet if we seek another model, one that emphasizes universal health care and educational opportunity, one that seeks to curb income inequality, we don’t have to turn to Sweden. Rather, look to the United States military.
Tags: child care, Health, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
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