NDP host 200 at Red Deer CPP town hall, make appeal to younger people

The response was resoundingly in favour, with about 15 hands kept down.

Town hall attendees respond, by a show of hands, to the question, ‘Who wants to stay in the CPP?’ Friday, Dec. 1 in Red Deer. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Whether it’s the cost of living, disagreement about how much Alberta could actually get for an Alberta Pension Plan (APP), or questions around how a change would impact the way CPP benefits rise each year with the Consumer Price Index, attendees’ concerns were diverse.

rdnewsNOW asked Notley what she thinks the reason is for such a gap in logic between those who are for and those who are against leaving the CPP.

“This is a clear example of a situation where the UCP doesn’t care what the vast majority of Albertans think. Albertans understand the value of a secure retirement and reliable source of income,” she said. “They’re more interested in using Albertans’ hard-earned retirement savings as a personal provincial political weapon. This hurts people in the long run and they need to rethink it.”

Notley and the NDP are so confident in where they believe Albertans sit, their first amendment will propose making the results of a future referendum binding.

“If the UCP insists on going down this road, they should not be allowed to use a pretend number and come up with fanciful claims of putting a unicorn in everybody’s living room,” she said, referencing the $350 billion Premier Danielle Smith has insisted Alberta could take from the CPP. “I trust the people who say the UCP number is fantasy thinking.”

Other amendments the NDP plan to unveil include:

restricting the ability to give notice under the Canada Pension Plan Act until there has been a binding referendum (Notley notes that currently notice can be given long before a referendum is conducted)
require legislative debate on the nature of the question to be put to Albertans in a referendum
restrictions on how the UCP are allowed to spend advertising money to promote leaving CPP
eliminate the ability to create a two-tiered system (Notley notes that as proposed, a two-tiered system would only apply to people already in CPP, and not future new entrants to an APP)

Notley added that if the UCP vote down their initial amendment, to make the referendum results binding, it will be very telling.

Also posed Friday was a question about a perceived demographic split, with younger people more likely to be in favour of switching.

Janis Irwin, NDP MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood urged people to talk about this issue with the younger folks in their life, also saying she’s beginning to see more people aged 18-35 start to care as they learn more.

“Young people do care about this. We’ve seen responses which suggest people in all age groups are opposed,” said Notley. “I think young people are less opposed than other groups because they’ve given it less thought and haven’t necessarily had the time to really become informed about it. The more people learn, the more they’ll disagree. With youth, it’s a matter of getting their attention.”

An attendee of an NDP-hosted town hall on the CPP asks a question to Party Leader Rachel Notley in Red Deer on Dec. 1, 2023. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Notley said young people should be aware that there are consequences to this proposal which affects their future, but also that of their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

It was noted, half-jokingly, that the town halls are being held during school hours, perhaps why more young people haven’t been in attendance.

Also in attendance, on an NDP invite made in the Legislature, was Red Deer-South UCP MLA Jason Stephan. Red Deer-North MLA and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange did not attend.

One attendee suggested Stephan have the chance to give his two cents.

Stephan, a tax lawyer and chartered accountant, listed three reasons he’s excited for the opportunity to create an APP.

“One is that we have the potential to really improve and increase the take-home pay for Alberta workers. Unfortunately, CPP payroll costs, for those of you who are working and get a T4, have gone up about 40 per cent since 2019 under [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau. It’s very unfortunate. From an affordability perspective, if we can give workers hundreds of dollars a year, perhaps over a thousand, while they’re working, that will dramatically help with affordability challenges,” he began.

“The second issue is that Alberta employers disproportionately contribute to this partnership. With CPP costs increasing so much, it creates a disincentive to hire people. If we can reduce payroll costs, we can create a game-changing competitive advantage, similar to reducing the corporate income tax.”

Lastly, Stephan claimed that the security of Albertans’ pensions would be better.

“Part of the reason why is that the asset to expenditure ratio, which is currently under 10, would increase close to 30,” he claimed, before sharing that he plans to hold his own local town halls on this issue, dates for which have not been announced.

Notley responded to Stephan, calling his assertions, “just not true.”

Notley also reminded that the federal government has indicated that once Alberta is out, there’s no going back.

Upcoming NDP CPP town halls include:

Ardrossan – Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. at the Ardrossan Recreation Complex, 80 First Avenue
Edmonton – Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. at the Westend Seniors Activity Centre, 9629 176 St NW
Calgary – Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Temple Community Association, 167 Templegreen Road NE

The NDP invite Albertans to learn more at AlbertasFuture.ca.

by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

NDP host 200 at Red Deer CPP town hall, make appeal to younger people

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