American taxpayers might gain a little comfort in knowing that the cost of government worker pensions has become a political hot potato in Canada, too.
This month the mayor of Montreal, Gérald Tremblay, plans to travel to the provincial capital, Quebec City, to ask legislators there to trim worker pensions to relieve the burden on local governments. He and Peter Trent, mayor of Westmount, a suburb of Montreal, plan to propose that the government cut the rate at which workers accrue future pension earnings from two per cent of salary times number of years worked to one percent. The mayors want the new formula to apply to new hires as well as to future earnings of current workers.
This month the mayor of Montreal, Gérald Tremblay, plans to travel to the provincial capital, Quebec City, to ask legislators there to trim worker pensions to relieve the burden on local governments. He and Peter Trent, mayor of Westmount, a suburb of Montreal, plan to propose that the government cut the rate at which workers accrue future pension earnings from two per cent of salary times number of years worked to one percent. The mayors want the new formula to apply to new hires as well as to future earnings of current workers.
Pension costs in Montreal rose 40% in 2010 alone to $476 million and now constitute more than 10% of its budget. Increased pension costs accounted for 3.2% of the 5% increase in the municipality's entire spending.
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