Alberta’s Opposition NDP is moving ahead with town hall consultations next week on the government’s proposal to have the province quit the Canada Pension Plan.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley says more than 23,000 Albertans have already responded to her party’s survey, with more than 90 per cent rejecting the idea of ditching the CPP.
Premier Danielle Smith announced in September that virtual town hall consultations on leaving the fund would be held this fall by a panel headed up by former Alberta finance minister Jim Dinning.
The United Conservative Party government has yet to release more details on those consultations.
But it but has launched a $7.5-million advertising campaign and an online survey to highlight a recent third-party report that estimates an Alberta pension plan could deliver higher benefits and lower costs.
The government survey does not ask respondents whether they want to leave the CPP and asks them instead how they would like an Alberta plan to be structured.
Notley says Smith’s government is not being honest with Albertans, as the third-party report is predicated on Alberta getting more than half of all CPP assets despite having 12 per cent of the population.
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