Premiers Goal to Increase CPP both Pragmatic and Desirable

“Flaherty said Friday the federal government is concerned about increasing CPP contributions at the current time because it would slap an additional financial burden on employers during fragile economic times, potentially threatening their ability to hire workers. The federal government can’t unilaterally change the CPP; amending it requires the backing of two-thirds of the provinces representing two-thirds of the population. “This is not the time to put another burden on employers and dampen employment prospects for Canadians. That’s my view. Not everyone agrees with that view,” Flaherty told reporters Friday in Ottawa.

Flaherty open to growing CPP — if all the provinces agree | canada.com Notice that Flaherty’s concern is the employer, the boss, the corporation, not the worker and certainly not the average Canadian whom most of the premiers actually want to help: “It is estimated six in 10 Canadian workers in the private sector have no private pension plan, while approximately only one-third of Canadians make contributions to registered retirement savings plans.” So far the premiers outnumber Flaherty and have the constitution on their side, and their goal is both pragmatic and desirable given the other pension options.