QPP/CPP -present expenses-future benefits & the Debt?

Dear Financial Post & Jon Kesselman,

re: "Rebalance public pensions", FinPost, May 12/06

If we are mandatorily removing 9.9% of an employee's pay in addition to each taxpayer's contribution of 15% of every tax-dollar (let's call that 30% of every personal income-tax-dollar) why don't we stop fiddling with 'generational equity' issues in CPP/QPP contributions vs benefits and just focus on paying off the $600B Gross (~$500B net) national debt?

Less debt = less interest charges = less revenue necessary to service debt = lower taxes = more affordable life = more money leftover to save for retirement.

Ontario's Loss of Clout is whose gain?

Dear Windsor Star Editors & Barbara Yaffe,

Ms Yaffe's article "Ontario's loss of clout" Fri May 12/06 was well-written in a nice easy readable style.

In my view, it accurately represents the current conventional-wisdom feeling towards the pretty-darn-good-so-far Conservative minority government.

But this is a chess game. Phase I may look like it's favouring Quebec and is motivated by seat-pandering in the next election as Ms Yaffe suggests, but there's more to come.

It's decided already.

Phase II (the big Fed-Prov conference on equalization and fiscal imbalance etc) may look like it's favouring ALL the provinces at the expense of the (former) bloated central gov'ts bureaucracy and expensive 'big' programs idea of how Canada is administered.

But Phase III (and the real agenda) will favour the oil-and-gas-fired stewards of the Alberta economy.

Mr Harper thinks he's managing things (and the media) quite well - and indeed he is (as anyone with a plan and some savvy could with the arsenal of weapons inherent in the office of 'Friendly Dictator' of Canada)

But the question-of-the day remains: Would Mr Harper (or anyone) be taking the steps he's planning if oil was $15/barrel?

Ontario's Loss of Clout is whose gain?

Dear Windsor Star Editors & Barbara Yaffe,

Ms Yaffe's article "Ontario's loss of clout" Fri May 12/06 was well-written in a nice easy readable style.

In my view, it accurately represents the current conventional-wisdom feeling towards the pretty-darn-good-so-far Conservative minority government.

But this is a chess game. Phase I may look like it's favouring Quebec and is motivated by seat-pandering in the next election as Ms Yaffe suggests, but there's more to come.

It's decided already.

Phase II (the big Fed-Prov conference on equalization and fiscal imbalance etc) may look like it's favouring ALL the provinces at the expense of the (former) bloated central gov'ts bureaucracy and expensive 'big' programs idea of how Canada is administered.

But Phase III (and the real agenda) will favour the oil-and-gas-fired stewards of the Alberta economy.

Mr Harper thinks he's managing things (and the media) quite well - and indeed he is (as anyone with a plan and some savvy could with the arsenal of weapons inherent in the office of 'Friendly Dictator' of Canada)

But the question-of-the day remains: Would Mr Harper (or anyone) be taking the steps his planning if oil was $15/barrel?