To the Editor:
It was almost exactly a year ago now that Stephen Harper jetted off to Switzerland to give a speech to the world's economic elite, announcing that Canada could no longer afford its Old Age Pension program, and he would soon cut it back.
That program to help low and middle-income Canadians has been in place since 1952. Subject to income-related eligibility rules, it provides a monthly payment to each individual Canadian when he/she reaches the age of 65. The total cost of doing that is currently about $36-billion. That amounts to a modest 2.2 per cent of our GDP.
This makes Canada's Old Age Pension one of the most affordable social security programs in the whole world. Similar systems in other countries use up 10 per cent or more of their GDPs. Ours is a bargain by comparison.
But Mr. Harper says the impending retirement "bulge" caused by all those post-war Baby Boomers, soon turning 65, will blow the bank. He claims the Old Age Pension will become too costly. So, he says, the eligibility age must be changed - from 65 to 67 years. That will save big money, right?
Not really. If no changes are made, the cost of Old Age Pensions will increase by the year 2030 to consume about 2.9per cent of GDP. That's up from 2.2 per cent today, but still a small total cost by global standards. With Mr. Harper's changes, pension costs will still rise, but only to about 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2030.
So all-in, the saving to the federal treasury is a rather tiny 0.3per cent. Clearly, there can be no allegation that Old Age Pensions are unsustainable.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page pointed all this out, last February - just a couple of weeks after Mr. Harper's erroneous claims in Switzerland. The PBO's findings were later confirmed by the Auditor-General.
Something similar happened on the Conservatives' proposed purchase of F-35 stealth fighter-jets. First, the PBO disclosed the Harper government's colossal mismanagement and dishonesty in this multi-billion-dollar procurement boondoggle. And then the Auditor-General confirmed he was right.
Time and time again, this pattern has repeated itself. Kevin Page has been fearless in blowing the whistle on incompetence and deceit.
That explains the tirade against PBO this past weekend by Finance Minister Flaherty - ironically, just as he was jetting off to Switzerland for this year's meeting of the world's rich and famous.
Ralph Goodale, MP, Wascana, SK.
