flaherty fields pension reform. ndp wants 2x payout

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/03/24/flaherty-pensions.html

Concerns over the adequacy of the current pension system have been growing in recent years. About two-thirds of Canadians are not covered by company pension plans. Surveys also suggest that about a third of Canadian families have no retirement savings at all and many others worry that they're not saving enough.

Last week, an analysis by the C.D. Howe Institute said most Canadians underestimate the amount they need to save for retirement. Its study said people need to save between 10 and 21 per cent of their pre-tax income for 35 years to get a retirement income at age 65 that would provide 70 per cent of their pre-retirement income.

While the Canada Pension Plan is actuarially sound for the next 75 years, the program is designed to replace just 25 per cent of the average working wage. It pays maximum retirement benefits of $934 a month.

Some, like the NDP, have suggested that the CPP system be beefed up to provide benefits that would approximate 50 per cent of the average working wage. That would require higher mandatory contributions.

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D: the NDP are not thinking intergenerationally.
Their position should be seen as pandering to the Boomers.
It is too late for the Boomers to significantly cover their own costs, if the pension plan is dramatically altered as the near retirement. They already got a break with the initial low pay-in rate prior to the last-decade 9.9% reform.

Don't tolerate bandying about of the word 'fair' by CARP.
This is intergenerational conflict. Fair is the opposite of reality!

Here's an idea: since Gen XYZ are subsidizing the too-low payin of Boomers for the first half the Boomers' working life,
1) introduce the expanded coverage and rate reforms supported by the NDP
2) but not for Boomers
3) hell, not even for Gen X or Y
4) Gen Z, if they pay-in at an increased rate for their whole working career, can qualify for that.
THAT is fair.