Strengthening the Legislative and Regulatory Framework for Private Pension Plans Subject to the Pensions Benefits Standards Act

Affiché le mercredi, 5 août 2009

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) thanks the Department of Finance for its public consultation on the federal legislative and regulatory framework for workplace pensions. The subject is important to the 3.2 million members of our Congress, and the $300 billion they hold in workplace pension benefits.On behalf of the 3.2 million members of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), we want to thank you for affording us the opportunity to present our views. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils whose members work in virtually all sectors of the Canadian economy, in all occupations, in all parts of Canada.

INTRODUCTION

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) thanks the Department of Finance for its public consulThe Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) thanks the Department of Finance for its public consultation on the federal legislative and regulatory framework for workplace pensions. The subject is important to the 3.2 million members of our Congress, and the $300 billion they hold in workplace pension benefits.tation on the federal legislative and regulatory framework for workplace pensions. The subject is important to the 3.2 million members of our Congress, and the $300 billion they hold in workplace pension benefits.1

Having said that, our submission begins by emphasizing our concern with the limited scope of your consultation paper. In our view, a "fend for yourself" policy approach appears throughout the document, a perspective that has dominated thinking on pensions for far too long.

As we have described elsewhere, Canada pensions have historically been torn between two ideas: move forward together, or fend for yourself.2 "Fend for yourself" advocates typically urge a limited, "minimum standards" role for pension rules, low benefits for public or mandatory pensions (e.g.: the Canada Pension Plan), and a "hands off" approach to regulating the individual savings products sold by banks and other financial companies (e.g.: Registered Retired Savings Plans, or Tax-Free Savings Accounts).