Petition launched to keep Alberta in Canada Pension Plan

A major labour organization has launched a petition demanding the United Conservative government keep Albertans in the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

Gil McGowan, the head of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), says the AFL is in the pension business. Their experts say the risks of pulling the province out of the CPP are potentially catastrophic.

McGowan says their members don’t want Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP to put their retirement savings in jeopardy.

“They’re telling us that it’s their money, not Danielle Smith’s,” McGowen said.

“They’re telling us that Danielle Smith should keep their hands off their retirement security. And they’re telling us very strongly that the UCP should not be allowed to play political games with the retirement savings of literally millions of Albertans.”

The province has been looking into the idea of removing Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan and replacing it with an Alberta Pension Plan.

McGowan says despite a lot of opposition, the UCP is still pushing ahead with it.

“Unfortunately, that’s what the UCP seems determined to do. They’ve made a commitment to issue the release a report in the next couple of weeks, which we are quite confident will be used to justify this frankly irresponsible plan to pull Alberta out of CPP,” McGowan said.

“They’re on the record as saying that they would prefer individual savings plans instead of a big pooled plan like the CPP. So is that what they have in mind when they pull Alberta out? And in a situation like that, it would be more like RSP.  So if you’ve got money, you could save it. But if you don’t, you can’t, and that’s the beauty of CPP it’s actually there for everyone, not just the wealthy.”

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Smith has promised to create a provincial pension plan and health spending accounts, but she has not indicated when these would start.

The government is expected to provide a report soon, looking into the province pulling out of the CPP and creating its own Alberta Pension Plan.

CityNews has reached out to the health minister’s office for comment.

-With files from The Canadian Press