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Last week, the federal Liberals quickly shot down a proposal from their own economic advisory council that the retirement age should be raised as high as 70.

As the advisers noted, an age hike is a virtual necessity in a Canada with an “ageing society and a considerably longer life expectancy than we had just a few decades ago.”

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But economic reality or not, reversing the Conservatives’ age hike from 65 to 67 was a key Liberal election promise. And with old folks still voting in record numbers, the political motivations here seem clear.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way out of this conundrum: more drinking, more smoking, fewer seatbelts and maybe toss in a handful of thresher accidents.

The modern incarnation of Old Age Security was first enacted in 1951. The Canada Pension Plan followed in 1965.

Both programs were born in an age when tobacco smoke stained the walls of public buildings, when regular day drinking was a key facet of professional life and when a minor fender bender could still send a steering wheel column through your sternum.