The following editorial appeared in the March 2nd edition of the Regina Leader-Post.
Barbara Yaffe's Feb. 20 column, "Public sector should share our pain," is a perfect example of the current misinformation campaign over public sector pensions.
Public sector pensions are defined benefit plans which workers pay into, deferring present income for the future. In 2008, retired public service workers received an annual average pension of $23,422, hardly overly generous.
Our current deficit is the result of increased Employment Insurance benefits and stimulus spending, it has nothing to do with public sector pensions, which as the most recent actuarial report shows, is adequately funded and has a surplus.
Rather than attacking public workers, we should be asking why private sector pension plans have proved so inadequate as a means to secure a decent retirement for Canadian workers.
If anything, the private sector should be emulating the stability of public sector plans.
All Canadians deserve retirement security, whether in the public or private sector. Engaging in a race to the bottom over pension benefits will only leave us all poorer as a result.
Simon Enoch
Enoch is Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives -- Saskatchewan Office.