There's no free lunch in this world, and indeed, there's no free retirement. If retirement benefits are going up, then someone has to pay for it. The question we need to ask about any kind of a CPP/QPP increase is, what are the real costs, who pays, who can expect to reap the benefits, and what exactly can they expect to get?
The simple answer is that CFIB isn't right-wing or left-wing -- we're pro-small business. In fact, so are all of Canada's mainstream political parties, and (nearly) the entire country. And if you think the idea of Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats agreeing with each other sounds wild and crazy, you might want to sit down when you read the next paragraph.
Imagine it's March, 2013 and you discover to your considerable horror that you must pay the government $9,000 in addition to the taxes you normally fork over. Sounds pretty far-fetched, doesn't it? Well, you and I, and every other man, woman and child in Canada are each on the hook for an extra $9,000 to pay for the $300 billion (or more) in promises to public sector pension plans that governments don't have the money to pay.
A Bank of Montreal poll found that almost a third of young Canadians haven't saved a penny for retirement, and only 10 per cent have given much thought to exactly how much money they're going to need to retire. Clearly, we need to get these folks saving, and fast. I'd like to see today's young Canadians -- particularly those without a gold-plated public sector worker or MP pension -- wind up with something, rather than nothing for their retirement. PRPPs can help employees at private sector small businesses save money for the future.