Do you agree with Ontario spending $70 million on the now-abandoned Ontario Retirement Pension Plan?
Last week, the provincial government released the costs for the ORPP, with estimates putting the figure at $70 million, including $15 million for contingencies as well as advertising and market research at $8 million. Particularly controversial were the severance payments booked by the ORPP administration corporation. They included about $2 million in severance for its six executives, as well as almost $1.7 million for the remaining staff.
The government has, of course, said it won’t proceed with the ORPP in light of the recent deal to enhance the Canada Pension Plan. Amid criticism of the costs, the government has said the ORPP was key to encouraging other provinces to agree to boosting the CPP, something Ontario has maintained was its preference all along. Without the fast-approaching timeline to start enrolling employers in the ORPP and get the plan up and running, the CPP deal wouldn’t have come together as quickly as it did, according to the Ontario government. Finance Minister Charles Sousa has also said the government had to spend money to get critical work done on the ORPP in the absence of certainty about the CPP.
Read: Severance payments criticized as Ontario puts ORPP spending at $70M
So what do you think? Was the work on the ORPP useful as a tool to get the CPP deal or would the recent agreement have happened even without it? Or is $70 million too much to spend on something that didn’t happen, regardless of the justification? Have your say in this week’s online poll.
As for last week’s poll, Benefits Canada asked whether Pokémon Go is a disruption in the workplace or a wellness tool for employers to encourage staff to get active. Only 21 per cent of respondents felt it’s a wellness tool, while 39 per cent felt it’s a disruption with too many employees playing it while at work. Another 39 per cent felt it was both a disruption and a wellness tool.
Read: Pokemon Go: Is game a disruption or a wellness tool for employers?
