• CTF Releases Analysis Detailing $63 Million Pension Lottery
  
• 26 MLAs in million dollar club; Premier's pension tops $2-million;
  
• CTF commends Carol James and NDP for demonstrating leadership on excessive pensions.
  
• CTF steps up efforts to urge individual MLAs to opt out.

Pension Backgrounder

VANCOUVER: Calculations released today by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) estimate re-introduction of gold-plated pensions for BC's current crop of 79 MLAs will result in a pension lottery of more than $63 million by 2013.

"The 30% pay increase is receiving far too much attention and is but a fraction of what MLAs stand to receive with the re-introduction of gold-plated pensions," said Maureen Bader, BC Director of the CTF. "This is the same type of gold-plated pension scheme abolished just 11 years ago because: according to the current premier while he was in opposition - it was too rich."

Although more modest than the previous gold-plated plan, the CTF's analysis shows taxpayers can expect to cough up $4 for every $1 contributed by an MLA to their pension plan if recommendations from a politician-appointed panel go forward.

Currently, taxpayers contribute 9% of the MLAs base salary to a Group RRSP. MLAs may voluntarily add up to 9% of their salary to the Group RRSP. MLA pension reform, welcomed by the CTF in 1996, was brought in by the Harcourt government after a citizens' panel recommended the abolition of a gold-plated pension plan that had taxpayers contributing $6.50 for every $1 contributed by MLAs.

Millionaires Club

Bader's calculations suggest that fully 26 of the 79 MLAs can expect to receive benefits in excess of $1-million to age 80. Premier Campbell tops the pension bonanza with estimated benefits to age 80 topping $2.2-million.

The NDP Showing Welcome Leadership

Although the CTF calculates estimated benefits for each MLA in BC, if all 33 members of the NDP caucus opt out, the taxpayers' liability would shrink by $20 million.

"The CTF commends Carol James and the NDP for stating they will not accept these benefits that are completely out of line with public expectations," stated Bader. "We hope that the government's commitment to introduce legislation that allows individual members to opt out will open the door for Liberal MLAs to demonstrate their respect for taxpayers as the NDP MLAs have."

Next Steps -

The CTF will be issuing an Alert this week to its 11,000 supporters in British Columbia urging them to contact their individual MLA and demand they opt-out of the gold-plated pension scheme.