Let’s Chat: My passport says Canada
By Linda Tooth on November 1, 2023.
In 1965, Lester B Pearson and the Government of Canada came together with all provinces to negotiate and create the Canada Pension Plan. The idea of this plan was to give those 60 years of age and older the opportunity to collect monies after retirement. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, “CPP legislation allowed provinces to withdraw from the plan if they established a comparable program.” The province of Quebec decided to opt out of a CPP program in 1965 and created its own program called the Quebec Pension Plan. The province of Quebec has always felt a need to distance themselves from a predominantly English-speaking population within Canada. Wanting their own currency, passports and army, Quebec has tried many times through referendums to achieve sovereignty and leave Canada. History tells us those tactics have not worked. Their newest ploy to sway those living in Quebec is the ‘Year One Budget for an Independent Quebec.’ PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is quoted as saying, “Quebec would find itself in a comfortable, even slightly better, financial position if it were to separate from Canada.” Does this sound at all familiar? I believe the current provincial government in Alberta is trying to divide this country. Our premier is hoping to achieve an Alberta Pension Plan by taking us out of something we as Albertans have been contributing to since 1966. By taking us out of the CPP she is aligning us with the policies and practices of Quebec. That thought makes me very nervous. I am in the process of reviewing the 93-page document titled Alberta Pension Plan – Analysis of Costs, Benefits, Risks and Considerations prepared by LifeWorks. To withdraw from the CPP Act, there are four conditions that must be met. Ranging from giving written notice, assuming all obligations and liabilities accrued and accruing in the CPP for members living in Alberta, providing comparable benefits and lastly, the province would have to accept contributions beginning in the third year following the year in which we give notice to withdraw. I hope we as Albertans realize that this is not a good move on our part. We are Canadian, and as such should be able to receive CPP as every other Canadian (except in Quebec) does. I have an app on my phone called the ‘Retirement Countdown’ and as of the day I am writing this it is three years, one month, and nine days until I can collect CPP at age 60. I have a vested interest in this and will be following it very closely. Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College 13-12
