Advisors snub Ontario pension plan

A recent WP poll suggests advisors are not on board with the Ontario government's proposal to introduce a provincial pension plan to complement the CPP.

Results from a recent WP poll suggest that the majority of advisors are against the Liberal government's proposal for a provincial pension plan in Ontario.

The poll, conducted Tuesday, indicates that 44 per cent of respondents feel the proposal is a waste of time and effort, while 38 per cent say it would simply be another expense for taxpayers. Just 17 per cent believe it is a step towards retirement security for Ontarians.

Last week, the Ontario government announced key details about its proposed "retirement pension plan," which it says aims to bolster the incomes of a growing number of citizens who don't hold a private equivalent. The provincial budget confirmed that the public plan would rely upon equal contributions from workers and employers and could be incorporated into the CPP with federal approval.

WP readers weren't short of words in reaction to WP's article Ontario budget lays out pension plan published last Thursday.

Ontario advisor Kevin O'Brien feels it is the federal government's fault that the CPP has failed Canadians as it tapped into the funds to settle other expenses. He fears the Liberals will make the same mistake. They can't help themselves, he suggests.

"The reason CPP is broken is because the government failed to keep a CPP account and wastefully spent the money on election promises and government projects," O'Brien says. "So, here we are allowing the Liberals to set up a supplementary pension plan? The government's financial record for maintaining and governance of our government retirement pension plans speaks for itself. I say keep them away from our pension plans."

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne defends that the provincial pension plan is the best way to increase contributions, since the federal government won't do so; pointing out that 50 per cent of working Ontarians are without employer pension plans.

But is relying upon the government to fund our retirement enough?

Advisor, Mark Matsumoto - who believes a provincial pension plan will cost Ontarians more than it will dish out to them - doesn't think so. Matsumoto says the plan would be a "huge liability," which would pay out the baby boomers and leave the next generation strapped for cash, ultimately leading to tax hikes. The, reason, he says, companies are eliminating pensions is because they are "expensive and risky."

"It is another ill-conceived idea by the socialist liberals," he says "This is an open-ended expense that will cost far more and cause far more damage to Ontario than the cancelled gas plants or any of their other mistakes."

Related Stories:

'Pension plan changes not enough'

Ontario budget lays out pension plan

The cost of snubbing the CPP

LATEST NEWS