When finance ministers meet in Whitehorse today, some people will be hoping they address a hot-button issue: the widening gulf between the gold-standard retirement benefits of the public sector and the shoestring pensions of the average Canadian.
To the unions that represent teachers, nurses and public servants, these pensions set the bar; most public sector pension funds are professionally managed and reliable. But to others, they are a source of envy, funded by the majority of taxpayers employed in the private sector who will end up working longer for fewer benefits.
"We feel that there's an 800-pound gorilla in the room that everybody's trying to ignore," said Catherine Swift, the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Ms. Swift says the "two-tier" nature of retirement in Canada makes it an essential point for discussion today when finance ministers gather in Whitehorse to talk pensions.
Freezing benefits and increasing public sector retirement ages would be a challenging move politically, but the current system is not sustainable, she said.
The federal and provincial finance ministers collectively oversee - and personally benefit from - generous taxpayer-funded pensions that allow comfortable retirement, often before the age of 60. The average retirement age of a public servant is 58, compared with 62 for the labour force as a whole and 66 for self-employed Canadians.
Ms. Swift says reining in those costs would free up cash for governments to cut taxes so that private sector workers can save more. It could also help pay for new retirement savings options, such as a voluntary supplemental plan run either by the Canada Pension Plan or by private-sector pension managers.
Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Don Drummond, a former federal public servant, said governments will focus on helping those without pensions, not taking away benefits from public servants.
He agreed, however, that in the interest of "social cohesion," the pension gap must be addressed.
"I think the first priority is to help people who don't have the pension coverage," he said.
The ministers will have no shortage of advice when they meet today. Beyond the formal report they commissioned, business groups and unions are laying out their wish lists.
Ms. Swift's organization is among a growing number of groups - including federal opposition parties and the Canadian Association of Retired Persons - calling for a supplemental option for people to invest their retirement savings. Several unions, meanwhile, have said the answer lies in doubling mandatory contributions and benefits to the Canada Pension Plan.
Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said Ms. Swift's criticism of public pensions represents a minority view.
"They're actually a model," he said. "They're a well-managed success story by any measure."
