Manitoba has proposed a series of enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan agreement that it believes would make the CPP “more responsive to the realities of the generation to come.”
Despite opting out of the agreement struck in Vancouver on June 21 by federal, provincial and territorial ministers, Premier Brian Pallister said in a statement on Monday that “the near federal-provincial consensus of the desirability of affordable CPP enhancement gives us a unique opportunity to get this right.”
The proposals include:
- Consider low-income single seniors
Manitoba said it would like the federal government to consider eliminating the clawback of guaranteed income supplement payments for widowed seniors’ CPP survivor benefits, given the special circumstances facing single seniors.
- Indexation of the death benefit
Manitoba believes the maximum death benefit should begin to grow with inflation as part of the CPP enhancement. Currently, the CPP death benefit provides a maximum one-time payment of $2,500 to the estate of a deceased CPP contributor, said the Manitoba government, noting the amount dates back to 1997.
- Enhance affordability by giving more time to phase in the increase to the upper earnings limit
Given the magnitude of the increase in contributions related to enhancing the year’s maximum pensionable earnings, Manitoba would like to see more time provided to adjust to this change. It proposes phasing in the increase to the earnings limit to four years from two.
- Commit to a comprehensive review of other CPP benefits
Manitoba said while there’s an assumption the changes will increase all CPP benefits, including survivor and disability payments, in proportion to the enhancements outlined in the agreement, it should say so explicitly.
“CPP is a key pillar to retirement security for Manitobans and Canadians, but it is not the entire solution,” said Finance Minister Cameron Friesen. “This is a once-in-our-lifetime chance to modernize the CPP, to make it more compassionate and more responsive to the changing needs of Canadians.”
While Manitoba NDP finance critic James Allum said yesterday there was some merit to the proposals, he suggested the government is bringing them forward late in the game. “They had the opportunity eight days ago at the finance ministers’ meeting to put these kind of amendments on the table for discussion and analysis and consensus and they didn’t do it,” he told reporters.
“I think the common sense way to approach this is for them to sign the agreement in principle, join the broad national consensus and keep working on it year after year to continue to enhance it, not only for this generation of Canadians but for generations to come,” he added.
Read more about the CPP deal: