Editor, The Times:
Oh horrors! The sky is about to come crashing down, the seas are about to rise and woe and pestilence will stalk the land.
The Trudeau government (led by the Kathleen Wynne government in Ontario) is about to reform (or perhaps the better word is extend?) the Canada Pension Plan. This would put more money into the pockets of those retirees who didn't save enough for whatever reason — poor financial decisions or just lost their shirts in the last recession.
Now one can understand the opposition to this from those remnants of the Harper Conservatives. Anything that doesn't feature a tax break or benefit for the one to five per cent of top Canadians is a no-no.
Also the attitude of the Fraser Institute and its 'fellow travellers' is perfectly understandable. There is out there in the wilderness a free market tooth fairy that will take care of it all.
If not (and this is being advocated by the Macdonald Laurier think tank) austerity will take care of it all. Then the average citizen can pay for the follies of those in charge. Just ask the Greeks and the Spaniards about that.
What I don't understand are the objections of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Trade, Canadian Federation of Independent Business crowd. Don't they realize that more money for the retirees will mean more money to buy their goods and services?
As my waggish friend put it, I'm a union member yet those independent business shopowners never refuse my money, never show me the door, yet they campaign against me all the time.
So the winged horned beast that will rise from the swamps and lay waste to the land is the 'improvements' in the Canada Pension Plan.
Figure that one out!
Dennis Peacock
Clearwater, B.C.