The Liberal government passed the changes to B.C.'s Human Rights Code last spring in order to allow people who have significant skill sets and experience to keep working as long as they choose. As of January those changes have come into effect.
The legislation is not retroactive, meaning employers will not be required to re-employ former staff who retired before the legislation came into force, nor will it affect pension or social security eligibility for either those who keep working or those who retire at age 65. It also applies to jobs in both the public and private sector.
When Attorney General Wally Oppal introduced the legislation in April to amend the provincial human rights code, he said, "Mandatory retirement is a policy of the past, not of the future."
Certainly truthful words from an AG who’s a baby boomer himself, and an understatement as boomers didn’t need the legislation until they reached age 65. So it truly is all about “them”. In fact the aging baby boomer generation will double the number of British Columbians over 65 in the next 25 years.
The economy is pretty much driven by this generation that represents 10 million Canadians or two thirds of our population. Political direction, consumer trends community policy all remains dictated by them in one way or another.
So what does it mean when we insure that boomers can take their jobs to their graves if they choose?
Quite simply, it retains the control and management of BC’s public and private sector in the hands of this ruling demographic class.
When it comes to good paying jobs the only chance of advancement for younger workers was through the opportunity of retirement. That advancement then had a ripple effect that would open an entry level position.
But times are changing. Within the big picture we are facing a worker and skills shortage, in fact the government is predicting another million jobs will be created in B.C. in the next decade, while only 650,000 students will graduate into the workplace.
There’s a labyrinth of issues that will end up shaping public policies, social services, the workplace and the economy. At the core of this issue remains the working poor which includes younger workers, stuck in low paying entry level positions with little opportunity for advancement.
Then there’s the older worker that can’t afford to retire since they can’t survive on any available pension plan.
Let’s not forget the growing number of self-employed people who generally don’t appear in the statistical analysis governments throw at us, and who are without any sort of social safety net. Many of them in small business can’t afford to retire.
And then there’s the issue that our economy cannot support the present number of baby boomers all feeding off a shrinking Canada Pension Plan bank account.
Today there are six workers in Canada for every retired person. By 2020, there will be three workers for every retired person. Because on average Canadians live so much longer, and retire so much earlier, Ottawa has demanded higher contributions to the Canada Pension Plan so it won't dry up. There will be increased demands to raise CPP contributions in coming years as the parade of boomers opt out of the work force.
So the knee jerk reaction is to keep those boomers in the workplace and paying into the system. The next reaction will be to begin to change the system, which has never been written in stone.
Mandatory retirement is fairly new. The first old-age pension in Canada began in 1927, financed by the federal and provincial governments, but administered by the provinces. It was available to Canadian citizens 70 years or older. The pension amounted to $20 a month, a munificent $240 a year, but only if the Canadian citizen passed a strict and demeaning means test.
In 1951, Ottawa introduced the Old Age Security Act, which was administered by the federal government to all Canadians 70 and over – without a means test.
Accompanying this legislation was the Old Age Assistance Act, a cost-shared program between Ottawa and the provinces, which made pensions available to Canadians aged 65 to 69, but with a means test.
By 1964, the old-age pension rose to $75 a month, which everyone admitted was inadequate. This led to the Canada Pension Plan, introduced in 1965. The CPP requires workers and employers to contribute to a social insurance plan that provides a wage-related pension on retirement at the age of 65. Next came the Guaranteed Income Supplement program in 1966, which paid up to $30 a month extra to pensioners with little income other than their Old Age Security pensions. The age for receiving Old Age Security was also lowered from 70 to 65.
So we can probably expect that our governments and policy makers will react to an ageing population rather than a good long-term plan. Regardless of the actions, the boomers demands will closely correspond with our healthcare needs, so no matter how we look at this picture it’s going to get rather expensive.
That’s why government will depend on the private sector to solve our problems, which might make some of us a bit nervous.
Mandatory retirement was a windfall for banks which love any sort of retirement concept, who pitch ads such as, "What are you doing after work?" And, "You're 20, you should be thinking of retirement."
The big push for bankers is the February run-up to the deadline for RRSPs, when they try to scare people by warning them if they don't have $500,000, $800,000 or $1 million socked away when they turn 65 they join the ranks of the homeless pushing their possessions in a cart and eating cat food.
To say that banks haven’t contributed to boomer fears regarding their financial future would be another understatement.
It’s a good thing to stay busy, be happy, stay productive, live a healthy life and prosper. But at the same time it’s a good idea to build a system where everyone else can do the same.
Perhaps this could be the boomer mantra for the next 50 years.
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Don Elzer writes and comments about travel, current affairs and the natural world. He is the Director of the Wildcraft Forest Ecomuseum and is the editor of The Monster Guide which can be found at www.themonsterguide.com
He can also be reached by email at: treks@uniserve.com
