Roundup: Re-starting the CPP debate

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Talk of expanding the Canada Pension Plan was dominating the discussion yesterday, but much of it seemed to be in a bit of a vacuum. To recap, the Conservatives, having largely eschewed any talk of CPP expansion as “job-killing payroll taxes” to date (despite some positive noises having been made by Jim Flaherty at one point), say they’re going to consult on voluntary expansion, but haven’t approached any of the provinces, which they need to do. The Liberals are moving in the direction of making an expansion mandatory, which the NDP have already largely been in favour of. For some context, Maclean’s spoke to a pension expert about the situation, and they reposted an piece from Kevin Milligan about what different expansion models could look like (and it’s also a reminder that none of this is about poor seniors, who are already taken care of by other programmes). The Ottawa Citizen also has a Q&A about the discussion as well. What should also bear mentioning is that voluntary increased contributions, if not done in a certain way, could dramatically increase the administration costs of CPP since it will require individual management of accounts – something that the current system does not currently need. Dramatically increasing costs will make CPP a less efficient vehicle for retirement savings, and may start to look like a commercial pension instead. If the government is insistent on a voluntary expansion as one of a number of options (like TFSAs and pooled registered plans), then this cost factor could be an important determiner in what that could look like.

Good reads:

  • Instead of the nonsense story about pizza lunches, here’s a look at the Auditor General’s office offering contracts to former employees for just below the tendering threshold.
  • The $300 million fund created by the government to allow First Nations to own their own homes on reserves has been used to build a mere 99 homes in six years.
  • While Mulcair insists the satellite offices repayment issue is false, Commons Administration is set to start denying travel claims and per diems.
  • The Board of Internal Economy is set to close a loophole that allows MPs’ staffers to use time-in-lieu and paid vacation time to campaign (as the NDP did in a by-election).
  • Our new naval supply ships could be delayed even further. Try to look surprised, everyone! But hey, a new independent panel will fix everything. Right?
  • Deaf Canadians fear being left behind in the new debate formats, which may not be closed captioned as broadcast consortium debates would be.
  • A documentary-length interview with Omar Khadr airs tonight on CBC in association with the Toronto Star.

Odds and ends:

While government funds tend to flow to government-held ridings, Western Economic Development funds flowed to plenty of opposition ridings too.

The Senate agriculture committee completed their study on bee health.

The King and Queen of the Netherlands were visiting Ottawa yesterday, and charmed at least one veteran. Their tour continues for the next two days.