NL shut out of Harper Government’s public consultations on pension reform
(St. John’s) – CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas says the Harper Government needs to expand its public consultations on pension reform to include Newfoundland and Labrador.
Lucas says, “While we’re pleased that the Federal Government will hold cross-country consultations on Canada’s retirement income system, we are quite concerned that Canadians have limited opportunities to be part of the consultation process.
“Our Province will not have a public event at all. To engage in a truly broad consultation with Canadians, you must schedule at least one event in Newfoundland and Labrador along with each of the other provinces,” says Lucas.
The Harper Government has only scheduled three public forums for the entire country.
Lucas says, “Millions of Canadians are facing an uncertain future in retirement. Only one in five employed in the private sector have a workplace pension plan, and over 11 million Canadian workers have no workplace pension plan at all.”
Says Lucas, "Millions of Canadians are worried about their pensions – more of their voices need to be heard. We encourage Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to broaden his consultations to include these Canadians.”
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