Exactly. The only reason to push separation from the CPP so hard is because they want to meddle in the investment selection process to prop up specific companies in violation of the fiduciary responsibilities of the pension manager and at the cost of Albertans' pension growth and stability.
The only other angle I can think of is separatists deliberately trying to fracture Alberta away from Canada.
Not just to prop up O&G company stock prices, but also to further their long-running process of tying absolutely every Albertan's financial well-being to O&G. Right now, if O&G drops, yeah, Albertans will lose jobs and the province's social services go unfunded, but they still have CPP to rely on. With this change, their retirement will also vanish.
The more they go "all in" on O&G, the more every voter in Alberta absolutely NEEDS the O&G industry to remain profitable. Keep that going, and the political party that is most pro-O&G will stay in power perpetually.
The UCP needs a bigger pot of pension funds to prop up oil and gas. They rewrote the laws a few years back to allow them to put health pensions in. I can only assume it went poorly and they need more gambling money to try and cover the debts.
I'm as hard of a "no" on this as possible. I'm absolutely convinced that when the smoke and mirrors collapse the healthcare pensions are gone, don't need to take Albertans CCP contributions w/ them.
The report by pension analyst LifeWorks calculates the province deserves more than half of the $575 billion in the CPP fund, and says with that money an Alberta pension plan could deliver lower contribution costs and higher payouts.
I'd like to see how LifeWorks came to that conclusion
Alberta is to begin telephone town-hall consultations with the public starting next week on whether to quit the Canada Pension Plan.
An engagement panel led by former provincial finance minister Jim Dinning announced Thursday there will be five 90-minute town-hall discussions over six weeks, each session focused on getting feedback from a different region.
"Now that the LifeWorks report is out for discussion, our panel has been tasked with listening to Albertans and hearing their thoughts, views and concerns about a provincial pension plan," Dinning said in a statement.
The NDP says Albertans have already made their feelings known in numerous public surveys that suggest a majority don't want the province to touch CPP.
The NDP is holding its own online consultation with Albertans on the topic on Oct. 19 at 6:30 p.m., hosted by caucus finance critics Shannon Phillips and Samir Kayande.
"The fact that the so-called [government] consultation on the future of the Canada Pension Plan does not include any in-person town halls is a move of pure cowardice," she said.
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