There was a brief return to the discourse over the proposed Alberta Pension Plan over the weekend after a Colby Cosh column managed to get the criticisms of the plan right. So, I’ll let Trevor Tombe to the talking.
First, the paper is here: https://t.co/lUqTLDK2jT
It explores many interpretations of the asset split formula, and provides some relevant history that most aren’t familiar with, including the Robarts claim Cosh quotes, which I was excited to share in the paper.
— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) September 30, 2023
And a plain reading of the language is that the actual returns of the CPP are being apportioned, not some hypothetical fund. This is important for the end result. pic.twitter.com/ihWntPoloQ
— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) September 30, 2023
And, very importantly, Robarts provided only one of several interpretations of the section, even at the time. I describe others in the paper.
There is real ambiguity here, not just a political argument as Cosh claims.
— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) September 30, 2023
Why do I go and lower it further to 20%? That’s an amount consistent with the governments stated objective for the split at the time the act was passed: assets are there to backstop obligations. It’s a more involved calculation, but yields 20% for a horizon to 2100.
— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) September 30, 2023
In any case, I may need to rewrite some of the paper to emphasize these points more directly throughout. If @colbycosh misunderstood then others may as well.
— Trevor Tombe (@trevortombe) September 30, 2023
As always, try to remember how the CPP actually works:
A person, by virtue of living in Alberta, does not pay more into CPP than other Canadians.
That same person does not receive less out of CPP by virtue of living in Alberta.
The whole "Albertans are subsidizing other people's pensions" shtick is pretty tiresome.
— Jared Wesley (@DrJaredWesley) September 30, 2023
Ukraine Dispatch:
Ukraine says that they shot down 30 out of 40 drones in an overnight attack on Saturday, and 16 out of 30 dronesovernight on Sunday, when a grain storage warehouse in Uman was hit. In turn, Russia claims to have shot down six Ukrainian drones and two missiles over occupied Crimea on Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the country will be partnering with western arms manufacturers to start localising production in Ukraine, with a focus on air defence and de-mining.
Ukraine’s defense industry entered a new phase of development today. Our successful Defense Industries Forum demonstrated global interest in the possibility to work in Ukraine—and with Ukraine—to develop arms and everything else that any free nation needs to assure true defense. pic.twitter.com/ziiJedTZ0a
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 30, 2023
"[The large Ukrainian community in Canada] obviously stands as a model for what might be replicated in the many like-minded countries in which Ukrainians have more recently settled," writes Richard Cashman. https://t.co/kECEtAr8ZM
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 1, 2023
Good reads:
- Justin Trudeau was in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Some quotes from the day can be found here.
- Here is some historical context on previous incidents where Canada was embarrassed on the world stage.
- Jewish groups are calling on the government to release secret files from the Deschenes Report about former Nazis who resettled in Canada after the war.
- The RCMP introduced mandatory security awareness training as part of the changes following the arrest of the alleged spy in their midst.
- Here is another preview of the trial of the alleged RCMP spy, which begins on Tuesday with jury selection.
- Pierre Poilievre was called out for tweeting about meeting with Algonquin elders, but attaching photographs of meeting with Inuit elders instead.
- The Quebec government plans to table a bill that will allow them to join BC’s class action lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.
- Althia Raj enumerates just how awful last week was in politics.
- My weekend column sets the stage for the Speaker election on Tuesday, and who the only two real viable candidates are.
Odds and ends:
Trying to hide your anti-trans stance behind the atrocity of residential schools is a wholly dishonest choice, and it’s galling the number of people who think that they’re being clever with it. pic.twitter.com/MGmLLr3zdH
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 1, 2023
New episodes released early for C$7+ subscribers.
This week I discuss why the Nazi-aligned veteran wasn’t a security problem as some have liked to claim. #cdnpoli https://t.co/OqGeEzuhaq— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 1, 2023
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