Papers show pension plan on radar near election time

Bureaucrats said changes needed

OTTAWA– Bureaucrats warned the Harper government days after the 2011 federal election about financial pressures on Canada’s pension system and highlighted possible options to explore, while noting other countries were increasing the age of eligibility for retirement benefits.

Documents titled “SECRET, Advice to Minister” – prepared in May 2011

“Adaptations may be needed to manage ... impacts.” ‘SECRET’ MEMO

for Human Resources Minister Diane Finley and obtained by Postmedia News under access to information – lay out a road map for the Conservative government’s controversial decision to gradually increase the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to 67 from 65.

The documents provided a few pages of short- and long-term options for the government to explore on “Responding to Pressures on Families and the Retirement Income System.” However, the options listed are all blacked-out from the documents released by the federal government.

The Conservatives never discussed any possible changes to OAS and GIS in the lead up to the May 2, 2011, federal election or in the subsequent throne speech, which has led opposition parties to accuse the Tories of hiding their agenda from Canadians during the campaign.

Documents listed in a section on “strategic policy directions” noted that “pressures on Old Age Security are expected to increase” and highlighted cost pressures the government now regularly trumpets, including the projection that the growing seniors population could result in OAS costs tripling from $37 billion in 2010 to $109 billion in 2030.

The shrinking number of working-age Canadians available to support the growing cohort of retirees – another government argument of late for raising the age of OAS eligibility – is also included in the advice to the minister.

“These changes will challenge underlying assumptions about sustainability and universal access upon which the benefit was originally conceived. Many of Canada’s economic counterparts have already reviewed their pension systems, and in some cases made adjustments (e.g., age of eligibility) in order to ensure their sustainability over time,” say the documents.

“With the changes in Canada’s age structure now imminent, it is evident that the needs of a much older society extend beyond those related to income security alone. As such, additional adaptations may be needed to manage generational impacts,” the documents add.

“You are coming into office at a critical time. Canada is going through some important changes. Of paramount importance is the changing age structure of society and its potential impact on benefits and services.”

The first time the Conservative government publicly discussed overhauling Canada’s retirement income system was during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s keynote speech in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Conservative govern-

“These changes will challenge underlying assumptions.” NOTE TO MINISTER

ment later announced in the March federal budget its plans to gradually increase the eligibility age for OAS and GIS to 67 from 65, beginning April 1, 2023.

Opposition parties and seniors groups have attacked the government for the planned changes, calling it a betrayal of Canadians that will force more low-income people onto provincial social assistance.

Both the NDP and Liberals are promising to reverse the Tory government’s policy decision and leave OAS and GIS eligibility at age 65.