Pooled pension plan debate cut short amid outcry over unrelated OAS reforms
Posted January 31, 2012 2:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The majority Conservative government has moved to curtail debate on legislation that would create a new, pooled, pension option.
The unexpected decision to limit the debate comes amid an outcry over potential reforms to Old Age Security, hinted at by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
On their own merits, the proposed Pooled Registered Pension Plans are not highly contentious.
The plan simply gives employers and workers another option to set aside retirement savings — in effect a group RRSP.
However opposition MPs have used the debate to pound the Harper government over its vague hints at more fundamental reforms to a pillar of the current pension system — Old Age Security, which supplements the Canada Pension Plan for millions of modest-income Canadians.
The Conservative majority has voted to limit to two days the debate on second reading of the pooled pension bill.
