Pension changes ahead this fall

The climate is ripe for changes in pensions in Canada and throughout the developed world. This fall numerous government and public policy groups will be examining, dissecting and discussing pension reform.

Leo at the Pension Pulse reported on a BBC report about the Labour party proposing limits to the amount of pensions that public sector employees can get. Like most governments the bottomless pot is starting to run out. The same applies here in Canada as we look at how we will fund a multi-billion dollar pension and benefits shortfall for public sector workers.

The CD Howe estimates the shortfall in the public sector pensions and benefits in excess of $400 Billion. That is a lot of future tax dollars that Canadians will have to cough up. Will they be willing to cough or will they demand changes? Margaret Wente

I think that we should implement at Sunshine List of public sector pensions. Public Sector Pension Club

At the same time the coming discussions on pensions will hopefully uncover some of the abuses to taxpayers that exist. These include the multi-million dollar entitlements of some public sector employees, double dipping, pensions without sufficient contributions and the early retirement provisions of public sector workers.

There are some in our society that need to be protected. A recent article in the Toronto Star highlighted the risk of women in poverty in Canada. There is a risk for many more in our society to fall behind in the coming years. The next high risk group is seniors. Seniors poverty

All we can ask for is a fair system whereby the public sector gets the same type of entitlements afforded to average taxpayers.

The public sector is not entitled to their entitlements. Especially at the risk of others in society and certainly not at the taxpayer's expense.