What returns can we earn on our saving? In planning for retirement, few questions matter more. Project prudently and all should be well; count on a bonanza that falls through – not so good. What is true for individuals is true for pension plans. Those that forecast conservatively and back their obligations well tend to pay what they promise; those assuming turbo-charged returns to fund rich benefits on the cheap might not. So far, the debate over a bigger Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) has skirted this question.
The going assumption – explicit in the ORPP’s numbers; implicit in conversations about “fully funded” CPP expansion – is that assets in these plans will earn 4 per cent annually…
Earls Restaurants got itself into a colossal public-relations jam with its decision to stop buying Alberta beef and instead to source “humane” beef from Kansas.
The chain was looking for suppliers that could provide it with beef free of antibiotics and steroids and slaughtered according to humane animal-welfare criteria. It ended up buying beef certified by Humane Farm Animal Care, but supplied from the United States.
A storm of protest erupted from Alberta beef farmers and consumers in Western Canada. Faced with commercial disaster, Earls shamefacedly admitted its mistake and returned to purchasing Alberta-slaughtered beef that, as it turned out, equally met humane best practices.
What drove this was a pure…
Ontario’s physicians are vital caregivers in the province. Their salaries represent the second largest line item in health spending. And they are not happy. Negotiations between doctors, represented by the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), and the Ontario government, have been on ice for almost two years. During the past several years, they have been without a contract, and the Ontario government has unilaterally reduced their fees.
They might resume negotiations soon following a letter by the Health Minister that the government will consider the OMA’s demand for binding arbitration. However, agreeing to this demand will likely be costly to taxpayers and won’t solve overarching issues, such as how to make more efficient use…
