CARP’S positive statement on the finance ministers meeting and the unity of the CPP

The Canadian Association of Retired persons (CARP) applauds that the federal government and all provincial territorial Ministers of Finance recently met to discuss the unity of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and its importance to all Canadians.

We understand that the next step is a study of how much of the worth of the CPP the province of Alberta could potentially transition to their own plan - we feel this is the wrong move for Canadians, particularly older Canadians.

The only path and the one we should take: we should be defending, at all costs, the unity of the CPP for this generation and every generation to come.

The money in the CPP belongs to all Canadians who have invested their money in it. The funds in the CPP do not belong to any level of government!

The provincial and federal governments are only the stewards of those funds. No province has the moral right to take that money. If they wish to set up their own pension plan, they can do so but must start from scratch.

In a time of polarization and politicization of institutions which should never be politicized, the CPP and other institutions of deep value to our nation are at risk. Creating carve outs or pathways out presents the beginning of the end of a pension fund that is the envy of many in the world.

We stand for a united CPP and believe that the federal government should aggressively pursue measures to ensure the unity of the CPP is first and foremost what is studied, not carve outs or options to exit and fragment a nation protecting and building entity.

Bill Vangorder

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Policy Officer, CARP