WESTLOCK — Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken was the opening speaker at a meeting on the Alberta Pension Plan (APP) in Westlock last week organized by a group advocating for Alberta's independence.
More than 100 Westlock and area residents attended the panel discussion, titled "Alberta Pension Plan: A start to sovereignty," hosted by the Westlock chapter of the Alberta Prosperity Project last Wednesday (March 6) at the Westlock Memorial Hall.
The Alberta Prosperity Project describes itself on its website as a not-for-profit non-partisan project to "educate and unite all Albertans to protect their prosperity, freedom and self-determination by empowering the Alberta government to restructure Alberta’s relationship within or without Canada." Its home page features an ad for a campaign to force a referendum on Alberta independence.
The event featured a guest panel with economist and financial planner Nadine Wellwood, economist Tanner Hnidey, and author, media host and political advocate Cory Morgan.
van Dijken spoke at the beginning of the meeting, saying he appreciated being there to discuss the APP with residents and said the issues are an opportunity to let Canadians understand how much Alberta really means to the federation.
“One thing that’s become very evident to me, is that over my lifetime I’ve watched how Ottawa has become more and more an entity that is stepping beyond the bounds of what the powers of domain that were identified in our constitutional documents,” he said, suggesting this overstep is what has “caused (a) lot of division that’s within the country at this time.”
“If Ottawa would stick to their powers of domain and do the work that we tasked them with when we joined confederation, and let us be able to do our work as a provincial government, then there’d be a much more cohesive working relationship,” said van Dijken. “But our government is constantly being challenged with the federal government moving in jurisdictions that we identified in our constitutional documents to have domain over in our jurisdiction.
“We would stop fighting with them and pushing back if they would just stay in their lane."
van Dijken said provinces are largely focused on the day-to-day needs of the people that are under provincial jurisdiction, such as health, education and social well-being and for some, that includes freedom.
“I always look to that (freedom) as, to have the ability as an individual to control your destiny,” said van Dijken. “We try and move in the direction that we’re able to have individual control of our destinies and I think it’s an important part of this. The more and more that we hand over the ability for others to make the decision for us, the less and less freedom we enjoy."
In 2021, Alberta Treasury Board and Finance engaged LifeWorks to prepare a detailed analysis of the costs, benefits and structure of a potential APP, including actuarial, economic, legal, and technical information regarding the establishment and ongoing operation of an APP.
That analysis was presented in a report, released in September 2023, and was followed by several government-led public engagement sessions, including telephone town halls and an online survey, between September and December 2023. Feedback and recommendations from the engagement panelists is expected to be shared with the Alberta government and released in a panel report in May.
The panelists shared their thoughts and information about a possible APP and how it would impact both the province and the rest of Canada.
"Alberta, being the largest net contributor, that is going to have a significant impact on the other provinces and the rest of Canada," said Wellwood. "...here's the reality. We have been disproportionately been contributing (to the CPP) to the tune of $3 billion dollars a year. That is significant."
Morgan said he wasn't concerned about the impacts of creating an APP on the rest of Canada.
"This isn't a social welfare program. It's a bloody pension plan and I want to have a provincial pension plan that maximizes returns for the sake of retirement of presumably myself, my children and my grandchildren. A better plan that what Canada is offering," said Morgan.
One of several questions panelists responded to asked what are the main advantages for Albertans to have an Alberta Pension Plan.
"The first of course are the economic benefits that are present for Albertans and they are numerous and significant," said Hnidey. "The second is the autonomy that is granted to Albertans, which is also significant, perhaps more significant than economic advantages that are present."
Sessions held with Take Back Alberta
The Alberta Prosperity Project has collaborated with Take Back Alberta to present information sessions on the APP across the province, starting in February. Communities where they have and will hold a panel discussion include Westlock, Innisfail, Lethbridge, Barnwell, Valleyview, Rocky Mountain House and Camrose.
“We all collaborated because we decided that we can’t do this alone, as one group or another,” said Nicole Kimpton, who was the moderator of the panel discussion and event co-ordinator along with Vicky Bayford.
“Hopefully what it’s going to do is stop the division. Some people don’t like Take Back Alberta, some people don’t like the Alberta Prosperity Project, they want something that’s individual,” explained Kimpton. "The goal is that Albertans come together and the division stops. It shows that everyone can work together regardless of whether you have differences of opinion.”
Group pushes petition for referendum on APP
Kimpton said they aim to obtain 200,000 signatures on a petition in order to hold a referendum on the APP. They would like to have those signatures by the end of May and to hold the referendum before the next federal election, which could potentially be either the spring or fall of 2025. Following the referendum vote, if Albertans choose to move to an APP, there would be a three-year notice period before the province would leave the CPP.
“If we reach that yes referendum vote, you give your notice that you’re leaving the Canadian Pension Plan and once you’ve given your notice, that’s what gets the ball rolling,” she said. “They’d then have to pull out what would be required from the Canadian Pension Plan to the Alberta Pension Plan.”
Kimpton acknowledged the uncertainty many Albertans may have about APP and hopes the meetings can help educate people so they make an informed decision about their future.
“I think there’s a lot of fear that’s going around, around leaving the Canadian Pension Plan to come to and Alberta Pension Plan,” she said, asserting that going to an APP would mean more money in the pockets of Alberta’s seniors.
“I am doing it for my children. I want to leave it better than we found it and right now it’s not good and so if we can make it better, of course I want to do that for my children,” said Kimpton. “But I also have my parents and they’re struggling. They’ve worked their whole lives and they’re struggling and that’s not fair — the amount of money that you’ve paid into it, they should be getting $1.2 million minimum and that split over their retirement years would have been about an $8,000 (per month) or if you say they’re living to 95, $6,000. That’s a far cry from $758 a month.”
