Ontario will halt provincial pension plan if CPP deal reached

Premier Kathleen Wynne is signalling she's willing to abandon her proposal to create a provincial pension plan if a meeting on Monday leads to a deal on improvements to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

The federal and provincial ministers of finance are set to meet in Vancouver onexpanding CPP contributions andpayouts, with negotiations happening behind the scenes this weekend. A dealrequires the consent of seven of the 10 provinceswith two-thirds of Canada's population.

If an agreement emerges, the Wynnegovernment will put a halt to the loomingOntario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP), senior officials tell CBC News.

• Kathleen Wynne setsbar for approval of expanded CPP
• CPPreform: Ontario's new pension plan complicates talks
• Ontario pushes back pension plan rollout by at least 1 year

Inan interview onCBC'sPower and Politics, OntarioFinance Minister Charles Sousasaid his government wants to see"anenhanced CPP that's timely, that's adequate, that provides a sufficient amount of supports in the long run."

"If that is able to be achieved this weekend, we will proceed with CPP enhancement as opposed to the Ontario pension plan," Sousa told host Rosemary Barton.

The push to boost pension contributions stems from concernthat too many Canadians aren't saving enough for a comfortableretirement, withthe modern labour environment of casual and contract work providingtoo few employeeswithworkplacepensions.

With the Harpergovernment reluctant to boostCPP, Wynnemade the creation of a newprovincial pensionplan a key plank in hervictorious 2014election campaign. It would cover some three millionOntarianswho don't have a workplace pension.

In an interview airing Saturday onCBC Radio's The House, host Chris Hall askedWynnewhy she's now willing to abandon the plan.

"I've always said my first choice is to have a CPP enhancement,"Wynnesaid."What's changing is that it looks like there's more of a possibility that we might get agreement across the country."

The Ontario provincial pension plan would create a maximum annual pension of $12,849 for a worker who pays into the plan for 40 years. Wynne has indicated she's willing to accept a deal that boosts CPP pensionbenefitsto abouttwo-thirds what her government is proposing under the Ontario plan

Wynnedescribed herself as "more optimistic" about the chances for a dealthan she was just a few weeks ago.

"There are anumber of premiers across the country who would like to see movement," Wynnesaid. "There's more potential forsomesuccess. I'm excited about it, but I will not bet on what the outcome will be."

Federal Finance Minister BillMorneauhas said he wants to see a deal on CPP completed by the end of theyear. But Ontario government officials are pushing for anagreement now,otherwise their plans for theORPPmust keep movingahead.

After clashing sharply and frequently with then-prime minister Stephen Harper over the ORPP, Wynne's position on its fateunder a new federalLiberal government has followed a somewhat wiggling path.

During the federal election campaign Wynne suggested she would drop the provincial plan if Justin Trudeauand the Liberals won. A few months after the Liberal victory, Ontario insisted it wouldproceed withits own pension plan,after a meeting offederal-provincial finance ministers failed to produce adeal to boost CPP.

Provincial pension delayed til 2018

In February,Sousaannounced aone-year delayin the provincial plan'sstart date, to Jan. 1,2018, and agreedto work with Ottawa and the provinces to "develop options" for enhancing the CPP that would be on the tableahead ofMonday's meeting of finance ministers.

Still, theWynne Liberals continued to talk of the provincial pension planas a high priority andtoputthe machinery in place to establishit. In January, the government named the CEO of the corporationadministering the plan. Thelegislation creating the ORPPpassed at Queen's Park on June 2, and has already received royal assent.

In Question Period earlier this month, Associate Minister of Finance Mitzie Hunter said the government is "moving forward with the implementation" of the pension plan. "It will bring financial security. It will ensure that when people retire, they could do so with dignity."Hunter has since been shuffled to the education ministry. But Wynne named Indira Naidoo-Harristo become the new associate minister responsible for the ORPP.