Discussion

Pension changes would increase risk for workers

The Harper Conservatives are poised to make small but high-impact changes to pension law that will let companies duck pension responsibilities and use pension money for other purposes. At the same time, they government has rejected a method it could use immediately to inject $200 billion stimulus into the economy through pension insurance.

With the economic crisis, Canadians in every trade and profession have become worried about their pensions and the stability of the plans that back them. Learn More...
 

Learn More...

Only 32% of unemployed women qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. The key reason is that the program doesn’t recognize that women have different patterns of paid work than men — because of their family responsibilities.  Furthermore, women are a lot less likely to have a workplace pension plan or private savings to rely on. For most retired women, OAS and GIS benefits are their sole source of income but the rates just are not high enough to maintain a decent standard of living.

Women are more vulnerable to the effects of an economic downturn. The majority of working women are in the unpaid informal economy and insecure forms of employment with lower earnings. That’s why in times of economic upheaval women often experience the negative consequences more rapidly and are slower to enjoy the benefits of recovery.

What initiatives do you think would help further women's economic equality and provide support during tough times?

During the current economic crisis the news media in Canada continues to rely upon the analysis and advice of the same Bay St. financial pundits whose analysis and advice got us into this mess in the first place. Why do the media think we should trust the same fools who got us into this mess to get us out?  We need responsible journalism, not more PR for Bay St. It’s about time the media gave some air time to new voices that aren’t afraid to hold corporate executives’ feet to the fire.

The Harper government has been let off the hook by a tame media in Canada. Just last November the government told us the economic fundamentals were strong and that we’d have budget surpluses for the next four years. In January, just 60 days later, Harper unabashedly announced an economic catastrophe that would deliver unprecedented recession and massive deficits for years. Why isn’t the media holding the Harper Conservative government accountable for its confused and contradictory policy statements on the economy?

Do you think the media in Canada is playing their role responsibly? 

Home care and long-term care are large and growing sectors of our economy. More public investment in these sectors would create jobs and stimulate the economy.  Ensuring we have a strong public sector in these areas is important because the public sector plays a stabilizing role in the economy when the private sector is in trouble. Also, more public investment in home and long-term care is critically important for women who are the vast majority of the workers in this sector.

Canada is facing a major demographic tipping point. The number of elderly Canadians is growing and this trend will accelerate dramatically over the next few decades as baby boomers begin turning 65. The number of seniors in Canada is projected to increase from 4.2 million to 9.8 million between 2005 and 2036, and the seniors’ share of the population is expected to almost double, increasing from 13% to 25%.

What do you think needs to be done provide elderly Canadians, who have made their contribution to our country, with the support they need to live full and rich lives?

Public services provide families with social and income security and during tough times families rely on these services more than ever. That is why we must make sure that services like health care, education, child care, community-based social services and elder care stay accessible and of the highest quality.

Canada has a twin-engine economy: a private sector engine and a public sector engine. The private sector engine is at half-throttle right now.  Cutting back the public sector engine at the same time will slow the economy down even more.  We need a strong public sector because it plays an important stabilizing role in the economy during turbulent times.

Investing in public services is the most effective way to create new jobs. A recent study by Infometrica proves it. For every billion dollars spent on tax cuts 5,600 jobs would be created. For every billion spent on physical infrastructure projects 15,800 jobs would be created. For every billion spent on public services (like health care, child care and education) about 20,000 jobs would be created.

What do you think about public services?  Should government invest more in delivering these services to Canadians? 

Canada and the world are faced with two two major crises: a deep economic recession and climate change. Thousands of the world’s leading scientists recently gathered in Copenhagen for an emergency climate summit. They had one overriding message for us all: climate change is even  worse than we thought and urgent action is needed more than ever—action that is bound to have significant economic impacts. At the same time Canada continues to shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing, mining and forest products industries.

What do you think that governments and businesses need to do to ensure Canadians a prosperous AND green future?

Unlike most other G8 countries Canada’s banks are in a stable and secure position because of strong regulation by our federal government.
In addition the government is using our taxpayer borrowing power to buy up to $125 billion Canadian mortgage securities held by the banks. That’s good for the banks. However, while the banks are basking in the benefits from government protection and taxpayer support they’re not doing enough to help families and businesses get through this difficult economic time.

What role do you think the banks can, should, play during the economic crisis? What changes do you think needs to be made to the banks and other credit lending institutions?

Pension funds and private savings have been hit hard by the economic crisis. Some employers want to cut defined benefit plans that workers have paid into their entire working lives. People who can afford private savings like RRSPs have seen their investments erode with the stock market meltdown.

However, the bigger crisis is that the vast majority of Canadians don’t have either a workplace pension or private savings. Only 38% of workers belong to a pension plan. And many Canadians can barely make ends meet, let alone contribute to RRSPs. One-third of working Canadians
have no retirement savings at all.

What do you think needs to be done to ensure that Canadians will be able to retire and enjoy a decent standard of living?

As Canada's unemployment rate hits 8% the number of people relying on Employment Insurance is growing.  Most of us have paid into EI thinking that benefits will be there when they really need them.  But increasingly many Canadians are realizing that the changes that successive governments have made to the program are leaving them out in the cold.

Past federal governments built up a huge surplus of over $54 billion in the EI fund, mainly as a result of cuts in benefits and changes to eligibility rules.  

We are told that in 1996, the maximum weekly benefit was $604 in today’s dollars while today the maximum is only $447 - the average benefit just $335 per week.

Even more of concern is that in 2006-07 only 40% of unemployed workers qualified for EI.  The number of women who qualify is even lower.

What do you think needs to be done with the EI program?