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He referred specifically to the Quebec agreement, under which the Caisse, Canada’s second-biggest pension fund manager after the CPP, agreed to take on ownership of selected government infrastructure projects, which it will plan, finance, execute and operate. In effect the province is privatizing projects before they’re built, but always with the same owner.

As Mr. Brison noted, pension funds often invest in infrastructure such as toll roads, airports or other revenue-generating projects. They are seen as less risky and more predictable than financial markets. As the National Post editorialized recently, there is no problem with this as long as the fund has the ability to operate wholly independent of the government, and is able to make decisions based solely on their potential to generate a maximum return for the pensioners it serves. But there’s real reason to doubt this would be the case in the Liberal scheme.

Pension plans exist for the benefit of the pensioners, not for governments in search of cheap and easy capital pools.

The Caisse has long had a close and co-operative relationship with the government, unique among Canadian provinces. Other provinces should be wary of adopting a similar practice. Ontarians already have reason to be concerned at Ms. Wynne’s plan to introduce a new Ontario-only retirement plan, which her government says could be used to provide capital for “Ontario-based projects.”

Pension plans, it needs to be repeated, exist for the benefit of the pensioners, not for governments in search of cheap and easy capital pools. While Mr. Trudeau will no doubt insist his Liberals would maintain a strict hands-off approach to the CPP, allowing it to make investment decisions free from government influence, recall that previous Liberal governments also pledged to abolish the GST, enforce the Kyoto protocol and create a national daycare system. None of which came to pass. Governments routinely break promises made while out of power, particularly where finances are concerned. There is no reason to believe Mr. Trudeau’s Liberals would be any different.

Opponents long claimed Prime Minister Stephen Harper harboured a “hidden agenda.” Now we know the Liberals are the ones with the covert plan: to use Canadians’ pensions as a handy means to finance election promises. Canadians considering a vote for Mr. Trudeau may want to consider whether they’re willing to bet their retirement income on him.

National Post

KellyMcParland