When the Albertan Government released its Alberta Pension Plan Report last Thursday, September 21, 2023, Canada’s news media – most of which now receive subsidies from the Canadian Federal Government - did not waste any time condemning it.
If you are an Albertan >>> then go to page 48-49 of the >>> CLICK HERE >>> Alberta Pension Plan Report to see every year (from 1966 to 2021) when Albertans' contributions exceeded benefits paid to retired Albertans. HINT: You won't find many years where benefits paid to Albertans exceeded contributions made by Albertans. Look at the data yourselves, before listening to the "self-appointed" experts.
Strange: Quebecers
have their own Quebec Pension Plan and have never been a part of the
Canada Pension Plan since both began in 1966.
In fact, at the time, Quebec had a population of 5.8 million. Today, there are about 4.5 million Albertans versus
about 8.5 million Quebecers. But if you
look at the economic power of both provinces, Alberta WINS hands down with over
$205 billion in international exports (2022) versus Quebec’s $111 billion. (SOURCE:
The Shocking Truth About Alberta and Saskatchewan: https://jaybortnik.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-shocking-truth-about-alberta-and.html
) Keep these figures in mind as you read what
the so-called experts say.
But first,
let’s hear from our very own Albertan Premier – Danielle Smith and a few other Alberta
Leaders from the past.
“I think the
rest of the country needs to understand that we are a small province, four
and a half million people, that punches well above our weight and Albertans
are getting really sick and tired of having the lack of appreciation for
just how much we contribute to Confederation.”
--- Albertan Premier Danielle Smith (Source: Calgary Herald, A3, Sep 23/23)
“I don’t
know why other provinces think that we’re being unreasonable to want to keep
dollars here, but they’re not being unreasonable asking a province of 4.5
million to keep on subsidizing the rest of the country.”
--- Albertan Premier Danielle Smith (Calgary Herald)
“Confederation
has to work for everybody
and these programs have to work for everybody.
And this one is one in which there’s so much unfairness that, over time,
it’s now resulted in us being entitled to 53 per cent of the premiums paid and
the assets in the fund.” ---
Albertan Premier Danielle Smith (Calgary Herald, Sep 23/23)
"I am frankly discouraged by the state of federal provincial relations. Even an impartial observer of federal - provincial developments would conclude that there is an anti-Alberta agenda at work today in Ottawa." --- Former Albertan Premier Ralph Klein - Calgary Herald - March 17, 2000 (SOURCE: https://jaybortnik.blogspot.com/2023/03/i-miss-ralph-klein-quotes.html )
OK, Now let's hear from the so-called "experts"
Canada’s “paid-off” press could not even “quote” one person – who was not part of the Alberta government - who supports of the mere idea of an Albertan Pension Plan. Not one. “Omitting” supporters while “amplifying” the ones who oppose this idea seems to be the strategy here. Bombard Albertans – who will be voting in a future referendum – with negative viewpoints while completely ignoring anyone else – no matter their evidence, sources, or credentials.
Let’s start
with the Canadian-conservative-leaning Calgary Sun – in its article entitled “Risk
just too great” (page 8, September 23, 2023) - quoted 3 people and 1
organization who were against an Albertan pension plan.
Let’s examine
these quotes and the people and organizations behind them.
Doug
Martin – President of the Calgary Chapter of The Canadian Association of Retired
Persons (CARP) says, “You have a proven solution within the CPP. To go to an unproven solution, with promises
of benefits if we get all this windfall money – the risk is just too great for
a potential reward.” And on a Linkedin
post, Doug wrote, “Hands off the CPP … CARP stands firmly against
this proposal for the following reasons … As the rules for leaving the CPP are
unclear, there is going to be significant litigation from the rest of Canada on
what Alberta should get.”
Doug speaks as if
Albertans cannot be trusted with our own money EVEN though we paid off our public debt not once, but twice in history. Something no other Canadian province has ever even attempted. This is interesting since he seems to be from
Alberta himself, though clearly “speaking for and repeating his “national” associaton’s
talking points. He does not even reference
the his own Alberta Government’s 95 page report. Then Doug goes on to say that there will be "litigation" with other provinces as if this should be a reason not to look after our own interests here in Alberta. What would happen if Doug actually agreed with an Alberta Pension Plan? How long would it take before he would be “ostracized”
from his own organization whose name starts with the word “Canadian.”
“Someone” (un-named
by The Calgary Sun) at The
National Association of Federal Retirees (NAFR) said, “An Alberta-only
pension plan would mean high administration costs to set up and run as well as
increasing costs for Albertans as the population ages, political interference
in investments and uncertainty and risk for those who can least afford it.”
Can you say “conflict of interest?” NAFR represents
“federal public service workers and retirees” including the very judges
that might decide anything about Alberta’s exit from the CPP. Again, here is another “national”
organization – located in Gloucester, Ontario (a 20 minute drive from
Parliament Hill in Ottawa) - accusing Alberta and Albertans of the possibility of
“political interference in investments” as if no Canadian government has ever
participated in “political interference” (does anybody remember the Liberal’s
Adscam?)
The NAFR does make a point about the
additional costs to set up and run a separate Alberta Pension Plan. But this point is already covered in Alberta’s
report. The NAFR’s quote is more about
what is left unsaid. Being a “national”
organization, they quite obviously did not want to get into a discussion as to
why Albertans would be entitled to a larger share of the CPP than our population
accounts for in Canada.
Bonnie- Jeanne
MacDonald, Pension Actuary and Director of Financial Security Research –
Toronto Metropolitan University’s National Institute on Aging told the Calgary
Sun reporter that “If people think this conversation doesn’t affect them,
over the next decades they’re going to realize that’s just not true, because
the way our demographics are changing it’s going to affect every Canadian.”
“If seniors
don’t have a secure pension income, workers might be compelled to finance or
take care of elderly members of their family.
This is a very bad idea at a very bad time.”
Again, we have
another “national” organization – located over 3500 kilometers away from
Alberta – telling Albertans – with not one shred of evidence – that “this is a
very bad idea.” And who is this
expert? Ms. MacDonald seems to be a
pension actuary as well as a director for research. So where is the “research” to support her
conclusion?
Enter the “university
professor” who teaches only one course, and seems to be the media’s current
favourite expert for all things economic on the radio and in the
newspapers. I present to you Trevor Tombe, a University
of Calgary Economics Professor with too much time on his hands. Don’t get me wrong, he does have impeccable
credentials and writes quite a few things.
However, even experts should be required to “back-up” their assertions. And this is no different. In his 27 page paper - entitled The Alberta
Pension Advantage? – he states on page 15, “If British Columbia, Alberta,
and Ontario each withdrew from the CPP, for example, I estimate 128 per cent of
assets would need to be paid.” And
then … wait for it … nothing. How did
the good professor make his “estimate?”
He doesn’t say. Maybe that’s
why it is buried in almost the exact middle of his paper. It’s a great sound bite for those who
immediately disagree with everything Albertan. I and Premier Danielle Smith and former Prime
Minister Stephen Harper (an economist himself) went to the same university that
Professor Tombe works at today, and if I tried to pull the same stunt, in one
of my papers, there would be a big red circle and a snarky comment about “sources”
in the margins. Just because he is a “so-called”
expert in economics, it does not make him exempt from proving what he says.
Other Quotes from: “Smith Stands by math in pension plan amid backlash over report.” By Chris Varcoe, p. A3, Calgary Herald, Sept 23, 2023
“With 13 per
cent of the Canadian population, there’s no way we’re owed more than half of
the CPP’s assets.” --- Gil McGowan,
President of the Alberta Federation of Labour
Really?
Gil - an Albertan representing Albertan unionized labour - is speaking
as if he doesn’t represent Albertan labour interests at all, but Central
Canadian political interests. Where’s the
unity about protecting Alberta interests?
Every other province protects their interests.
But the
report’s interpretation of Alberta’s share of the CPP’s assets is “a fairly
unreasonable interpretation” of the Canada Pension Plan Act.” --- Trevor Tombe – University of Calgary
Economist (who released a paper about
the issue this week)
Seriously?
Trevor is an “economist” not a constitutional “lawyer” and yet he is
calling the report’s interpretation “unreasonable” even though the report’s
authors accessed outside specialized legal advice.
“Calgary
Chamber of Commerce president Deborah Yedlin said a survey earlier this year
asked its members about their top concerns, and an Alberta pension plan wasn’t
at the top of the list.”
“We want to
make sure the government considers things like ensuring stability, that it
doesn’t compromise labour mobility, because we are trying to get people into
Alberta.” --- Deborah Yedlin
Really sneaky! Of course, Alberta businesses didn’t
mention it in the Chamber’s survey because it wasn’t a story yet. Actually, rising costs seem to be at the top
of Calgary business’s list. According to
the report, An Alberta Pension Plan could put more money into working Albertans’
pockets thereby decreasing the need to pay more for workers.
As an Albertan,
who considers Alberta home and worthy of defending, are you getting tired of “other”
Canadians who couldn't care less how hard you work and how much money you
contribute to Canada at the expense of your own well-being.
**** Half measures,
like an Alberta Pension Plan only works if Ottawa doesn't take Alberta's new found money out the "backdoor" by
spending less of our federal taxes in Alberta through continued - and constitutionally locked-in - equalization and transfer
payments $$$$$$$
It is crystal clear to me and many “forgotten” Albertans like me, that “other” Canadians
only really want money from Albertans while we are supposed to keep our mouths
shut about it.
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If you want to go "further" than a "half-measure" like the Alberta Pension Plan >>> please read my blog + watch >>> Ottawa’s Worst Nightmare: How to Vote ‘NO’ to Canada … and still be counted >>> https://jaybortnik.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-you-can-vote-no-to-canada.html
Watch Related YouTube Videos:
Go to the playlist >>> Defend Alberta >>> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0Z8a6O5ALKipHNDvGAnpa-Spa3jPaAHI
7 minute video about how to vote "NO" to Canada.
13 minute video EASILY explaining "equalization" and "transfer payments"
10 minute video which helps you decide if Alberta is YOUR home?
3 minute video REMEMBERING how Ralph Klein made Alberta Debt-Free
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