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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Mark Johnson: Canada is cash-strapped? Wrong—we have over $700 billion collecting dust in our Canada Pension Plan fund


... last I argued then that a good share of it could be safely withdrawn to be distributed in the form of lower premiums, increased benefits, or dividends to governments that could be re-invested in public goods like infrastructure, the military, and education.

In hindsight, I was wrong—but only in degree. Most of the fund is surplus, or superfluous, and can be safely paid out. What was once a model of financial prudence is now bleeding Canada white.
Crunching the numbers: We’re not raiding the CPP, the CPP is raiding us 

Bear with me. It’s hard to believe, yet it’s right there in the most recent official report on the CPP. Done every three years by the chief actuary, these reports set out the financial projections underpinning the CPP.

They’re chock-full of data. They tell us, for instance, if the CPP is sustainable over the long term. But they don’t tell us the size of the financial reserve needed to safely make it so. Do we need a reserve of $100 billion? $500 billion? More? It’s a glaring omission ...

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