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Trudeau attacks pitch to take Alberta out of CPP in open letter to Danielle Smith – CBC.ca

Published

11 months ago

October 19, 2023

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sent an open letter to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith calling her efforts to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan a risk to “certainty and stability.”

“With all the uncertainty they face, Canadians should not have to worry whether or not the Canada Pension Plan will continue to be there for them in their retirement,” Trudeau said in the letter.

“Alberta’s withdrawal would weaken the pensions of millions of seniors and hardworking people in Alberta and right across the country. The harm it would cause is undeniable.”

Last month, Smith released a long-awaited report by consultant LifeWorks. It claims that if Alberta pulled out of the CPP, it would be entitled to $334 billion — more than half of the fund’s assets.

Smith has long called for Alberta to leave the CPP and told reporters after the release of the LifeWorks report that “an Alberta pension plan would be fairer and could make life more affordable for all Albertans.”

Trudeau’s open letter criticized that claim, insisting that pulling out of the CPP would only “introduce even more uncertainty and instability.”

“Withdrawing Albertans from the Canada Pension Plan would expose millions of Canadians to greater volatility and would deny them the certainty and stability that has benefited generations,” Trudeau’s letter said.

The prime minister said that in a time of high inflation, climate change and conflict, political leaders should strive for certainty over instability. He vowed to challenge’s Smith’s CPP plans.

“I have instructed my Cabinet and officials to take all necessary steps to ensure Albertans — and Canadians — are fully aware of the risks of your plan, and to do everything possible to ensure CPP remains intact,” he said.

“We will not stand by as anyone seeks to weaken pensions and reduce the retirement income of Canadians.”

Watch: Proposed Alberta pension plan entitled to half of CPP’s assets, report says:

Proposed Alberta pension plan entitled to half of CPP’s assets, report says

27 days ago

Duration 2:06

Featured VideoA report commissioned by the government of Alberta says a proposed Alberta Pension Plan would be entitled to about half of the assets of the Canada Pension Plan.

Smith fired back at Trudeau on Wednesday in her own open letter. She rejected Trudeau’s description of the effects Alberta’s withdrawal would have on the CPP.

“It is disingenuous and inappropriate for you to stoke fear in the hearts and minds of Canadian retirees on this issue,” Smith wrote to Trudeau.

The premier accused Trudeau of imposing more costs on Albertans through the federal carbon tax and warned the prime minister not to attempt to block the province from withdrawing from the CPP.

“Any attempt to do so will be seen as attack on the constitutional and legal rights of Alberta, and met with serious legal and political consequences,” she wrote.

Speaking to reporters later Thursday, Smith said Trudeau’s response was “overwrought” and argued the impact on the rest of Canada of Alberta withdrawing from the plan would be minimal.

“I think [Trudeau] is trying to overstate it to make some kind of political point and quite frankly I don’t think that that’s helpful,” she said. “We should allow for the process to play out [and] let Albertans decide.”

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages Randy Boissonnault, the only Liberal minister from Alberta, told reporters Wednesday that Smith’s CPP plan is “a massive distraction and nobody should be playing politics with pensions.”

“The overwhelming majority of emails and phone calls that I’m getting are that Albertans want to stay in the CPP,” he said. “I guess the question is, why this distraction and why now?”

NDP MP Heather McPherson said Trudeau’s intervention is welcome but simply sending a letter to Smith won’t be enough.

“Leaving CPP will be bad for every working Albertan, and seniors all over the country,” she said. “While seniors beg Danielle Smith not to do this, she’s set on going forward with gambling with Albertans’ retirement funds.”

LifeWorks numbers challenged

Critics have ripped into the math underlying the conclusions in the LifeWorks report.

Michel Leduc is senior managing director of the non-partisan Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages the fund’s assets for Canadians. He immediately dismissed the $334 billion claim as an “impossible figure.”

“It’s basically invented, and then you end up with this very, very large figure that would not work,” said Leduc, adding that his organization respects the rights of provinces to withdraw and create their own pension plans.

University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe published a paper estimating that Alberta is entitled only to about 20 to 25 per cent of the fund.

“I think it was a little problematic that the government’s hanging its hat on half the CPP assets, which you think is kind of transparently unreasonable and not going to fly anywhere else in the country,” he said.

A 2019 briefing note from Alberta’s Finance Department to Travis Toews, who served as finance minister to both Smith and former premier Jason Kenney, estimated Alberta’s slice of CPP assets at less than 12 per cent.

Alberta has floated the idea of holding a referendum on withdrawing from the CPP as early as 2025.

According to the first major poll conducted since Smith began making pitch to take Alberta out of the CPP, the proposal is widely opposed by Albertans.

Fifty-two per cent of Albertans polled by Abacus Data said they think it’s a bad or very bad idea, compared to 19 per cent who think it’s a good or very good one, and 15 per cent who are in the middle.

The few who support it are overwhelmingly younger Albertans — those farthest away from receiving pensions who are therefore less vulnerable to dramatic changes to the retirement fund.

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

4 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

5 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

5 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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