The provincial government still has a fair amount of work to do to convince the majority of Albertans that this is a good move for the province - Andrew Enns
A new Leger poll found that more than half of Albertans oppose the idea of Alberta’s withdrawal from the Canada Pension Plan in favour of the creation of an Alberta Pension Plan, as reported in an article by Calgary Herald.
The poll found that only 22 percent of Albertans support the UCP government’s proposal for the provincial plan, with 52 percent opposing and 26 percent left undecided. While it was a notable drop in approval since the last poll in October, it was still in line with the numbers that Jim Dinning, chairman of the province’s pension engagement panel, had previously stated.
Andrew Enns, a Leger executive vice president, said that the drop in the support among UCP voters were a key factor in declining the plan’s approval. Only 40 percent of UCP supporters were in favour of the creation of the Alberta Pension Plan. This was a large decrease from the 54 percent in October. Meanwhile, there was a 7 percent increase in those who opposed as it sat at 26 percent.
Enns noted that the arguments seen last October between Alberta and Ottawa, regarding the province’s claim last September that it would have 53 percent, which amounted to around $334 billion, if it chose to leave the CPP, had contributed to the decline in support.
“I think that on a lot of issues, it doesn’t play poorly for the provincial government when they’re when they’re butting heads with Ottawa,” said Enns.
Falling support not surprising
Duane Bratt, a political scientist from Mount Royal University, has said that it wasn’t surprising to see the falling support for the provincial plan as it had not gained the majority support in Alberta, even as it had regularly come up in the last two decades.
“The whole idea of a pension plan for Alberta has never been popular, except within the UCP. There is a circle of people, the most activist members, that do believe in this, and that’s why the idea keeps coming back,” says Bratt.
“Among the hardcore members of the UCP, it is popular. It’s just not popular in the rest of the province, and that includes UCP voters who may vote for the party, but who aren’t going to party conventions and drafting up policy documents.”
The province previously announced that engagement sessions regarding the Alberta Pension Plan were to be paused until the Office of the Chief Actuary of Canada provided its estimate of Alberta’s potential withdrawal. Dinning had noted that the province’s figure was a barrier that prevented that discussions to move forward.
Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, had stated that the province will not be holding a pension referendum until a number was set, which was something that a court decision may need to determine.
“My sense is that they’re just going to hope that it goes away because there is a clear, clear partisan aspect to this,” says Brett.
“The provincial government still has a fair amount of work to do to convince the majority of Albertans that this is a good move for the province,” says Enns.
The poll further found that there were slightly less Albertans who knew the details regarding the proposal to pull out of the Canada Pension Plan. From the 71 percent in October, it fell to only 69 percent as 76 percent continued to view CPP as an important part of their retirement.
The poll was conducted through an online survey involving 1,012 adult Albertans.
