Fixing the Future : How Canada's Usually Fractious Governments Worked Together to Rescue the Canada Pension Plan

In 1993, most Canadians believed that big government deficits were permanent and that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was in such deep trouble that younger Canadians would never collect a retirement pension. They believed too that Canada's politicians were incapable of dealing with either problem. Yet by 1998, both were essentially solved. While the deficit battles have been recounted many times, the story of the reform that rescued the CPP has gone almost entirely untold. In Fixing the Future , Bruce Little explains the CPP overhaul and shows why it stands as one of Canada's most significant public policy success stories, in part because it demanded an almost unparalleled degree of federal-provincial co-operation. Providing an overview of the CPP's entire history from its beginning in 1965, Little pulls together published, and new unpublished, material relating to the CPP reform, and interviews over fifty politicians, government officials, and others who were deeply involved in the reforms for their recollections, insights, and observations. A superbly told history of one of Canada's most important public policy issues, Fixing the Future will be of interest to political scientists, historians, economists, and anyone concerned about their retirement. "In 1993, most Canadians believed that big government deficits were permanent and that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was in such deep trouble that younger Canadians would never collect a retirement pension. They believed too that Canada's politicians were incapable of dealing with either problem. Yet by 1998, both were essentially solved." "While the deficit battles have been recounted many times, the story of the reform that rescued the CPP has gone almost entirely untold. In Fixing the Future, Bruce Little explains the CPP overhaul and shows why it stands as one of Canada's most significant public policy success stories, in part because it demanded an almost unparalleled degree of federal-provincial cooperation. Providing an overview of the CPP's entire history from its beginning in 1965, Little pulls together both published and new unpublished material relating to the CPP reform, and interviews more than fifty politicians, government officials, and others who were deeply involved in the reforms, for their recollections, insights, and observations." "Fixing the Future will be of interest to political scientists, historians, economists, and all those concerned about their retirement."--Jacket Contents 5 Foreword 7 Foreword 9 Preface 13 Prologue 15 1. Gloomy Canada 17 2. The Creation of a Pension Plan 38 3. The Desultory Decades 55 4. Finally, Some Action on Financing 72 5. Finance Takes Over the File 84 6. Public Fears, Proposed Solutions 94 7. The Bombshell Report 112 8. The Outside Debate 124 9. The Reform Takes Shape 138 10. Clarifying the Choices 156 11. Consultations – Of All Kinds 176 12. Progress and Stumbles 199 13. Rules for the Fund 218 14. Autumn Obstacles 231 15. The Deal Is Done 252 16. Parliament Gets Its Say 277 17. Launching the CPP Investment Board 297 18. Lessons Learned 314 Appendix: Summary of Canada Pension Plan Provisions 329 Notes 337 Bibliography 369 Illustration credits 377 Index 379