Answers on pension plan

Dear Editor,

Earlier this month, the provincial government announced new “clarifying” details of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. Sadly, Ontarians were left with more questions than answers as the demands of Bay Street were put before the interests of Ontario families yet again.

Each new ORPP announcement has come with a new list of exclusions – a new list of Ontario families that are left out of a public pension plan. In December, the ORPP consultation paper stated that the government’s preferred approach was “restricting the definition of comparable plan to only DB plans.”

Now, that definition has been broadened to include defined contribution plans with the intention to “develop an appropriate comparability threshold for PRPPs” as well. PRPPs are a brand new venture that does not even exist yet, and already they are prioritized for exclusion.

This is another broken promise from this government, and these exclusions undermine the fundamental reason for implementing the ORPP in the first place.

New Democrats believe that it is important that retirement security be strengthened for all Ontarians. A pension plan is only as strong as its pool of capital, and – under Kathleen Wynne’s leadership – it is becoming shallower by the day.

I’d like to know, based on the new definition of “comparable” pension plans, how many Ontarians will be excluded from the ORPP? And what effect will these exclusions have on a future CPP expansion?

Ontarians deserve answers.

Jennifer French

MPP – Oshawa