In this morning’s Winnipeg Free Press, conservative lobbyist Colin Craig wrote a poorly researched attack on working families. Here’s a reality check:

Claim:

There is a “huge pay gap” between government and private sector workers.

The Reality:

A recent study compared similar jobs in the private and public sectors and found: “Overall average pay levels for comparable occupations between public and private sector employers are very similar. Average annual pay in the public sector was $49,655, 0.5 per cent higher than the private sector average of $49,407.” Source: “Battle of the Wages: Who gets paid more, public or private sector workers?” by Toby Sanger

Claim:

Providing decent pensions to private sector workers is “just not realistic.”

The Reality:

As the former Chief Actuary of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Bernard Dussault is someone who would know if it’s realistic or not. He supports expanding the defined benefit CPP for all workers as the most realistic way to provide decent pensions for all. See “Global Solution to the Canada Pension Crisis: A Full Scale Expansion of the Canada Pension Plan,” by Bernard Dussault

Dussault’s view has been supported by Canada’s foremost pension experts: Bob Baldwin, an expert adviser for the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions; Keith Horner, a pensions consultant and a former federal Finance Department official; Jonathan Rhys Kesselman, the Canada research chairman in public finance at Simon Fraser University; Monica Townson, an economic consultant who served on the Pension Commission of Ontario; and Michael Wolfson, the Canada research chairman in population health modelling/populomics at the University of Ottawa. See “Expand CPP, Experts urge,” Winnipeg Free Press, Dec. 14, 2011.

Proposal:

“Bring wages down to levels that people outside government receive”

The Reality:

Reducing wages for middle class working families would only serve to cut the number of family-supporting jobs in our economy. Working families would have less to spend in our community at a time when small businesses are saying inadequate consumer demand is the single biggest barrier to growth (see CFIB Business Outlook, July 2012).

“It’s unfortunate that working families heading out to enjoy their Labour Day weekend are subjected to poorly researched attacks on their livelihoods,” said Kevin Rebeck, President of the Manitoba Federation of Labour. “Building a strong middle class means doing more, not less, to support working families.”

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Media Enquiries/Demandes des médias: Jean-Guy Bourgeois (204-953-2563; 204-451-5856)