From: brewnoserii@gmail.com   
      
   Basically, she's said to Trudeau and the provinces:  'Get an agreement for a   
   better Canada-wide CP Plan, or I'll go ahead with the Ontario Retirement   
   Pension Plan that will give better protection for retirees in my province'.   
      
   And it seems she's making them listen.   
   _________________________________________________   
   The Globe and Mail - Sunday, Jun. 19, 2016   
      
      
   Ontario will shift focus to ORPP if CPP deal delayed further: Wynne   
      
   Ontario Premier prefers 'adequate' expansion of Canada Pension Plan to   
   bringing in provincial program   
      
   Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is urging Canada's finance ministers to strike   
   a CPP deal on Monday, warning that the province will shift focus to rolling   
   out its own pension plan if there's further delay.   
      
   The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan is scheduled to launch on Jan. 1, 2017,   
   but the province is not planning to proceed if a national deal is reached on   
   expanding the Canada Pension Plan.   
      
   In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Ms. Wynne said her preference is an   
   "adequate" expansion of the CPP.   
      
   "At this point, we're looking at one or the other because I don't think that   
   having a very small enhancement to CPP is going to fly.   There needs to be an   
   adequate enhancement or we go ahead with the ORPP," she said.   
      
   Finance ministers are meeting in Vancouver on Monday to discuss whether the   
   CPP should be expanded over time to provide more generous benefits in   
   retirement.  It is the first time they've met since December, when they agreed   
   to have government officials    
   work on various options for reform that could be presented to them at this   
   June meeting. Another meeting is expected in December.   
      
   But Ms. Wynne is urging Ottawa and the other provinces and territories to make   
   a decision now rather than wait until that December meeting.   
      
   "December's very late.  We really need to have a pretty clear indication of   
   where the rest of the country's going at this June meeting," she said.   
      
   The challenge faced by finance ministers is that any additional benefits must   
   be paid for by higher payroll premiums.   Some warn that higher premiums will   
   hurt employment, while others say it could force Canadians to save more than   
   necessary during    
   periods of their lives when money is tight due to other costs, such as housing   
   and raising children.   
      
   The future of the ORPP is hanging over the discussions.   The provincial plan   
   was originally hatched out of frustration by Ontario that the previous   
   Conservative government in Ottawa would not support a national CPP expansion.   
      
   Some business groups are urging finance ministers to strike a deal on Monday   
   as a way of preventing the ORPP's launch.  The concern is that the ORPP would   
   require higher premiums than a national CPP expansion and would be cumbersome   
   to manage for    
   businesses operating in more than one province.   
      
   "Premier Wynne deserves credit for championing the cause of pension reform.   
      
   Without her efforts, it's unlikely that the discussions would have progressed   
   this far," Business Council of Canada president and CEO John Manley wrote in a   
   recent open letter.  "However, a targeted national approach clearly makes more   
   sense than an    
   expensive new Ontario-only plan."   
      
   Under the current CPP, employers and employees each contribute 4.95 per cent   
   of income between $3,500 and $54,900.  The maximum CPP benefit is $13,110.   
      
   The ORPP would require contributions of 1.9 per cent each from employees and   
   employers on income between $3,500 and $90,000, with a maximum annual benefit   
   in retirement of about $12,815, in addition to CPP.   
      
   The CPP is meant to replace 25 per cent of employment earnings up to a   
   ceiling, while the ORPP is meant to replace a further 15 per cent but with a   
   higher limit.   
      
   Ms. Wynne said she wants any national plan to be at least two-thirds as   
   generous as the ORPP.  That could be measured in terms of the replacement rate   
   or the target benefit.   
      
   Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said   
   both the ORPP and a CPP expansion amount to an overreaction to a problem that   
   only affects a minority of Canadians.   
      
   "I am hoping against hope that there'll be a no vote or a not-right-now vote   
   coming out of Monday's meeting in Vancouver," he said.  "It just seems like a   
   big and bad solution to a small and focused problem."   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)