I'm going out on a limb here in agreeing with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty about rethinking pension contributions in the public service of Canada.
Public servants in this country are well paid and have one of the richest pension plans in the country. The Canadian public service pension plan is the envy of the Canadians served by those who toil for the Queen, and bureaucrats have had a pretty smooth ride. If they want to keep their pensions, they should pay more for them.
I don't think asking them to pay 50 percent is out of the question.
At a time when many Canadians don't have pensions, and others have watched while their plans have gone bust thanks to greedy and irresponsible employers, it is not a lot to ask government employers to pony up and inject more into the system.
The argument that the government will lose the "best and the brightest" is ridiculous. If these brainiacs went looking, they would find that the private sector a) doesn't hire that many brainiacs b) doesn't pay brainiacs any more than the rest of their workforce.
I also think the government should ban public servants from double dipping. Most retired bureaucrats I know simply take their pensions then re-up and get hired back by the government for more than $500 per day. A lot of the lesser lights undercut the rates of legitimate consultants by reducing their per diem to 1978 levels and, as a result, make it difficult for small businesses to make a decent wage.
There is a lot rotten in the public service of Canada.
If the government is intending on fixing it, why not look at other employment issues as well?
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