Recently, Premiere Danielle Smith of Alberta has started floating the idea of an Alberta Pension Plan. Supported by some numbers which don’t seem credible on the face of them, and which several economists suggest are completely unrealistic, she is suggesting that Alberta is entitled to over half of the total current net holdings of the Canada Pension Plan.
This was done by looking at the total amount of pension that has come from people in Alberta, adding the investment returns of that money since the inception of CPP, and then subtracting how much money was paid to people in Alberta. The result of that calculation came out to around 334 billion dollars owed to Alberta. The suggestion was that this large amount was because Alberta is typically a very young province. Can you see the problem here?
Why is it that Alberta is typically a very young province? It’s generally because people move here for work, and then return to their home province or somewhere else when they retire. Which means that instead of subtracting the amount paid to people in Alberta, we should have subtracted the amount paid to people who worked in Alberta. This is obviously a much harder calculation to do and would end up with a much larger amount of Alberta’s contributions to CPP having been paid out already, which is probably why she didn’t have it done that way.
Some might wonder, why would she want to bother with doing this? The answer is that, like the pension fund of teachers, the Premiere can dictate where any pensions that are in control of the province be invested. This would thus allow Ms. Smith to use public money to benefit the private firms whose owners donate significant amounts to her campaign, and also be sure that no Alberta money gets invested in any sort of alternative energy generation. Not that I’m saying she would do such a thing, because obviously it would hardly be ethical and would be hindering Alberta’s alternative energy industry from developing, and there’s obviously no evidence that this the type of person she is.
But meanwhile, in this issue we’re starting it off with a Fiction feature by Lucy Djorno. We’re still looking for students to interview for our minds we meet, so if you’re willing to share a bit of yourself with fellow AU students and wouldn’t mind getting a bit of swag, then send an email to mwm@voicemagazine.org and let our interviewer know.
Also this week, we’re looking at the security threat presented by private airports as Alek Golijanin begins another investigation, and we also look at a fall activity you might want to take advantage of with Xine Wang’s latest.
Also this week, you’ll find scholarships, events, advice, thoughtful articles and more, all by members of the AU community. If you’re interested in adding your Voice to the mix, why not write me at voice@voicemagazine.org. In addition to recognition and some assistance with your writing, you’ll also get paid.
Then next week is the Council Connection where AUSU Council had their first approval of the upcoming fee increase. A student consultation will take place on October 3rd before it goes to the final vote in the October Council meeting. Enjoy the read!