Take a moment to contemplate these startling figures from the Globe & Mail's ongoing and admirable investigation of the state of the nation's pensions:
• 84% of public service workers have pensions.
• 78% of these plans are gold plated defined benefit pensions
• 25% of private sector workers have a pension plan
• 16% of these plans are gold plated defined benefit pensions
• 11 million workers, or 60 per cent, of Canada’s workers have no pension at all
• 8 million or 45 per cent, have no pensions or registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs)
That's right.
Eight million Canadian workers (45%) have no pensions or RRSPs; they will depend on the pitifully small handouts grudgingly provided by the Harper Tories, who have run up a huge deficit through their incompetence and untrustworthiness.
And eleven million workers (60%) have no pension at all.
Just hope that you don't grow old in the near future. With the structural deficits brought to you by our piano-playing and stock-picking (The recession is a good time to buy shares …) prime minister, your chances of living out your life as poor senior are high indeed, if you belong to these groups.
Of course, if you are a Tory Cabinet minister, you will probably not notice the monthly cheques from CPP…
