Photo Courtesy Bob Schnieder

By Brendan Miller

Alberta

NDP says they will protect Albertans’ retirement security

Mar 30, 2023 | 5:41 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Alberta NDP says if elected they will introduce new legislation to protect the Canadian Pension Plan for Albertans.

Seniors from Medicine Hat spoke out against Premier Danielle Smith’s proposed Alberta Pension Plan during a news conference this afternoon.

Mary DeWolfe joined NDP candidate for Brooks-Medicine Hat Gwendoline Dirk and Cypress-Medicine Hat candidate Cathy Hogg to share her concerns on the UCP’s plan to replace the Canadian Pension Plan with a provincial pension plan.

DeWolfe says she and her partner are both in their early 70s and rely on CPP and Old Age Security payments as their primary source of income.

DeWolfe says Smith’s proposed Alberta Pension Plan would be equivalent to taking a wager on their future.

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“If Danielle Smith thinks she can do away with the CPP and gamble our retirement security to form a provincial plan, she will be leaving many people like myself and Keith bereft,” says DeWolfe.

That sentiment was echoed by Sarah Stringer. Stringer is also a senior living in Medicine Hat who relies on CPP payments to purchase necessities like groceries.

“I’m not prepared to turn over my pension to the volatility of a boom and bust economy and I’m not prepared to turn my hard-earned pension over to a premier who is making decisions that are going against the best interest of Albertans,” says Stringer.

Hogg says, if elected, the NDP will pass legislation to ensure the CPP is protected into the future.

She says the costs involved to pull out of the CPP is unknown at this time.

“We don’t know what the costs would be to start a new pension plan here in Alberta but we know it’s going to be in the millions and we don’t know what it’s going to cost us as a province to leave the Canada Pension because there is plenty for pulling out of it,” says Hogg.

Dirk says people worked hard for their CPP and they want to know it will be there for them in retirement.

“People are very, very concerned about the affordability crisis in Alberta and it seems like it’s getting worse and so when you have a threat like we may now lose our CPP it will go into a fund that’s not stable. It is very concerning to our voters, people are very much against that,” says Dirk.

The Fair Deal Panel established by former-premier Jason Kenney suggested holding a referendum to determine whether Alberta should withdraw from the CPP.

As of December 2022, the Canadian Pension Plan website says total assets are worth $536 billion and mandatory contributions virtually cover all employed and self-employed workers in Canada.