Tony Martin says stuff. SooToday.com prints it

NEWS RELEASE

TONY MARTIN, MP

***************************** Martin’s message for budget: Improve pensions for seniors, retirement

$600 million takes every senior out of poverty

SAULT STE. MARIE - In a letter to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty today, Sault MP Tony Martin called on the government to make significant improvements to pensions for struggling seniors and Canadians preparing for retirement.

“Baby boomers will retire soon, only adding to today’s crisis,” Martin said. “This government doesn’t mind blowing billions on summits and fighter jets. What about our seniors who can’t find housing or afford their homes anymore, some of them needing food banks to get by?”

The NDP is proposing a major overhaul of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), while suggesting that pension protection needs to be addressed in the cases where companies have declared bankruptcy.

Part of the NDP's plan is to slowly beef up the CPP and make it portable so that the pension is still protected if an employer declares bankruptcy.

The NDP is also asking the federal government to invest $600 million to raise the guaranteed income supplement which would take every single senior in Canada out of poverty.

Flaherty has proposed a modest, voluntary Pooled Registered Pension Plan with unpredictable values at retirement, and any risks borne by the individual.

This differs from the CPP, where risk is shared by all Canadians.

“This proposal will be a real money maker for banks, insurance and trust companies, but when it comes to providing Canadians with a secure and sufficient retirement income, it really misses the mark,” said Martin. “In fact, under this plan, financial institutions will be able to rake off an average of 40 to 50 per cent of a person’s pension contributions over a lifetime.”

New Democrats, seniors groups, policy experts and actuaries have spent the last year pushing the government to improve the CPP.

“The CPP is the most secure, portable and low-cost pension reform option available to Canadians - and it’s inflation-protected,” said Martin. “But the Conservatives have chosen to bypass it completely and set up a privately administered, voluntary plan, where employers get to choose if they want to contribute. And if the markets aren’t doing well, then neither is your pension. This doesn’t sound like an improvement to me.”

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