Alberta Pension Plan games begin. But why?

“More Alberta, less Ottawa”

Finance Minister Nate Horner, pension engagement panel chairperson Jim Dinning, and Premier Danielle Smith (source: YouTube screenshot)

Alberta’s United Conservative Party government opened up a new front in its fight for more provincial autonomy with a proposal to withdraw Alberta workers from the Canada Pension Plan and create an Alberta Pension Plan.

Premier Danielle Smith joined Finance Minister Nate Horner and pension engagement panel chairperson and former finance minister Jim Dinning on stage to announce a sunshine and apple pie forecast for a new Alberta Pension Plan.

“This report shows a made-in-Alberta pension plan could put more money in the pockets of hard-working families and business owners and improve retirement security for seniors,” Smith said at the press conference.

This is all part of the provincial autonomy agenda that Smith has promoted since she won the leadership of the UCP last October. It is also a key part of the Free Alberta Strategy that Smith’s top advisor, Rob Anderson, pushed along with the Alberta Sovereignty Act.

Smith did her best to avoid discussing leaving the national pension plan during the provincial election campaign only four months ago, which probably had a lot to do with public opinion polls showing the majority of Albertans are opposed the idea.

Leaving the Canada Pension Plan is something a province can do, although no province has ever done it because, well, it’s probably not a good idea.

Pulling Alberta out of the CPP is not a new idea but it’s the first time a government has taken the idea seriously.

It’s also something that Smith has been a big fan of for at least 20 years. 

Danielle Smith column in the Calgary Herald on November 3, 2003.

“Not only does the Alberta government have the constitutional authority to take back this responsibility, it has the obligation to do so,” Smith wrote about the creation of an APP in the Calgary Herald on November 3, 2003.