Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called for a major boost to pensions, increased seniors’ income support and an end to pension discrimination through the Superannuation Acts.
“What is being proposed by the Harper Conservatives would help fewer than one in ten seniors, and that is unacceptable,” said May. “We would increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by 25%. We must ensure that our seniors are living with dignity and independence.” Approximately 35% of elders are dependent upon the GIS to help keep them out of poverty.
The Greens would also work to enhance the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) by phasing in the doubling of the target income replacement rate from 25% to 50% of income received during working years. The Harper Government has pulled the legs out from under any CPP enhancement and instead want to bring in a privately run pension option, essentially glorified RRSPs, called Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPP), modeled after the USA’s 401(k) program.
“To produce a retirement income of $10,000 per year, individuals would have to accumulate some $200,000 in their PRPP at today’s interest rates. That is 4 times the current median RRSP levels for the lucky thirty percent who have them. The average wage earner would have to contribute twelve percent of their income –this is simply not realistic and will definitely not have any impact in reducing the poverty rate amongst the elderly,” said May.
Pension reforms must be built upon the system that will best create decent pensions that will keep the elderly out of poverty, require minimum additional contributions and have low administrative and investment costs. The only system that is capable of meeting these goals is the CPP - a proven system that is the envy of many countries. Its systems can be modified to offer enhanced benefits. Everyone is familiar with the CPP, which is in sound financial health with the latest actuarial report noting that it is sound for at least the next 70 years.
The Green Party also proposes to delete the restrictive clauses in the federal Superannuation Acts which penalize pensioners who have remarried or married for the first time after age 60. Currently the surviving spouse of such a marriage is denied any pension, medical or dental care, even those with partners who served in the RCMP, military, civil service, as judges or as MPs. The antiquated idea is derived from the British and US Military Pension Acts but has since been deleted from both of these Acts. “The Superannuation Act clauses are causing great hardship to the survivor whose spouse gave a life of service to our country,” said May.
