(Canada) Conservatives table next big budget implementation bill

[Lucy Goosey]

Some of the changes expected to be announced Thursday include:

-The age of retirement for new federal workers will rise to 65 from the current 60 years.

-The age at which MPs can collect their full pension will rise from 55 to 65, with an option to collect earlier if they take reduced benefits.

-Increased contributions for MPs will be phased in by 2017.

The precise date for MP pension changes is Jan. 1, 2016. There will be no change to the current eligibility for MP pensions of six years of service.

I wish they weren't pretending that things like raising the retirement age for federal workers is going to save a tonne of money. They are obviously doing it more for ideological reasons than for cost savings. Of course, I wish the Cons wouldn't do most of what they do, so I'm not shocked to be opposed to this, too.

If they had any integrity, they would be raising the MP pension eligibility to more than 6 years, but they don't, so they're not.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/10/18/pol-omnibus-budget-implementation-bill-part-two.html

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. Changes to the MP pension plan are the red meat

for the 'small government' base. Not surprisingly it is the news making headline on the budget and any opposition MP who votes against the budget for any other reasons will automatically be lumped into the stereotypical greedy, self serving politician camp. Just like the penny being axed in the last budget, all of the discussion will be centered on this and not the other 400+ pages of the bill.

So far it looks like once again regulatory agencies and acts are being gutted again in order to bypass environmental laws to speed up pipelines and exploitation. EI, and occupational safety are further being shoe-horned into the last budget. And the legislation regulating the sale of grain is further being loosened to either fit into upcoming trade agreements, or increase the industries appeal to foreign mega corporations, (like whats inevitably going to happen to XL Foods).

Once again, a big win for small minds and big business, and loss for transparency and democracy.

[UnclePoli]

2. More R&D Investment

I'd like to see the Government do more in their most recent budget to stimulate productivity and economic growth. Recent discussions about getting rid of a tax credit that promotes R&D for example (Link) are counter productive.

Here's something I recently came upon that I found compelling: Link

I'd like to see the Government take a more active roll in increasing aggregate productivity in the economy, and there's an opportunity to do so by leveraging the strong dollar.