Premier Danielle Smith’s government has rejected a proposal that would have compelled it to respect the results of a referendum on whether Alberta should quit the Canada Pension Plan. On Dec. 6, the United Conservative Party’s majority government voted down an opposition amendment to Bill 2 — the Alberta Pension Protection Act — by the […]
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith won’t say what happened to her government’s promise to hold face-to-face meetings with citizens in December on quitting the Canada Pension Plan. However, thousands of citizens got their say or tuned in to five recent telephone town hall consultations, she said during a house question period last week, noting nearly 100,000 […]
Former federal finance minister Bill Morneau is standing up for the Canadian Pension Plan, calling it a uniquely successful investment organization that won’t be easily recreated by the Alberta provincial government if it’s successful in its attempt to leave the federal plan. Speaking at the Portfolio Management Association of Canada’s national conference last week, he […]
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says if Alberta were to quit the Canada Pension Plan it would require a “complex and multi-year process” of negotiating international social security agreements to deal with contributors who work abroad. Freeland said Friday that would be among the steps the Alberta and federal governments would have to take if […]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau entered the Alberta pension-exit debate Wednesday, saying the federal government will fight any threat to the stability of the Canada Pension Plan. In an open letter to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the prime minister also took her to task for launching the debate in the first place. Smith’s office didn’t immediately […]
Alberta’s opposition is launching its own survey on whether the province should leave the Canada Pension Plan, saying the government questionnaire is a “sham” and a “unicorn.” New Democratic Party finance critic Shannon Phillips says her party’s survey is to lay out a simple choice for Albertans, asking them whether they think leaving the CPP […]
A report commissioned by the Alberta government estimates the province would be entitled to more than half the assets of the Canada Pension Plan if it were to exit the national retirement savings program and go it alone. A third-party report compiled by consultant LifeWorks Inc. (now part of Telus Health) calculated that if Alberta gave the […]