Posted: Thursday, 4 August 2011

You know that Labour Day is drawing near when the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) launches another of its annual strategically-timed attacks on working men and women. Dan Kelly, a CFIB vice-president, has written an Opinion Editorial published in a number of Postmedia newspapers. Kelly attacks the pensions paid to public sector workers as excessive and opposes any improvements to the Canada Pension Plan. CLC president Ken Georgetti drafted this letter to the editor in response.

The Editor:

Dan Kelly of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the pensions of public sector retirees are excessive, but he doesn’t bother telling us that the average public sector pension in 2009 was about $24,500 a year. Hardly a king’s ransom after a lifetime of work. Kelly is also opposed to any improvements to the Canada Pension Plan, which is entirely funded by workers and their employers, including members of the CFIB. Kelly would prefer that taxpayers be stuck with supporting poverty stricken retirees through the use of social programs such as the Guaranteed Income Supplement. This amounts to a taxpayer subsidy to Kelly and his members who do not want to contribute to pensions for their employees. Canadian governments have been reducing taxes on business for years. The CFIB is a self-interested lobby group whose members no longer pay enough in taxes to justify the exaggerated influence they want to have on public policy.

Ken Georgetti
President, Canadian Labour Congress