Conservatives are targeting Singh over his pension — but Poilievre’s is three times larger
For weeks, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been accusing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh of supporting the government until February so he can become eligible for his MP pension. But experts estimate the size of Poilievre’s own pension at more than three times that of Singh’s pension.
A calculation of Poilievre’s House of Commons pension indicates that he could draw more than $230,000 annually once he turns 65. That figure could grow considerably if Poilievre becomes prime minister following the next federal election.
If Singh qualifies for his pension, he could draw more than $66,000 annually starting at age 65, the same estimates suggest.
“Mr. Singh isn’t the one who should be getting attacked over his pension,” said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. “I think it’s a slippery slope and one [Poilievre] will regret.”
Poilievre recently made MPs pensions a matter of public debate when he dubbed Singh a “sell-out” and accused him of putting himself ahead of Canadians to qualify for his House of Commons pension.
“It’s another tired old lie that Pierre Poilievre likes to say, and it’s a lie that he uses to distract from the facts,” Singh said Tuesday.
CBC News asked an accounting professor with pension expertise to estimate the value of all five major party leaders’ pensions. Four other experts, including an actuary, reviewed his findings.
The figures indicate that Poilievre is set to collect the largest pension of all party leaders except Justin Trudeau, who will receive a larger pension because he is prime minister.
But a spokesperson for Poilievre said there’s a difference between the two leaders’ situations.
“[Poilievre] has never tried to delay a needed election in order to qualify for or grow his pension,” said Sebastian Skamski in a statement to CBC News.
Skamski said that Poilievre “proudly voted to cut politicians’ pensions, including his own,” under the Stephen Harper government.
Speaking to the Conservative caucus on Sunday, Poilievre repeatedly accused Singh of refusing to help him trigger an election in order to qualify for his pension next year.
“Jagmeet Singh has a message,” Poilievre said to caucus. “Wait. Wait until he gets his pension.”
The party also posted paid online ads last month pressing the same line of attack.
May said it’s “wrong” that the Conservatives politicized pensions “at all.” She called Poilievre’s attack on Singh “outrageous” and “despicable.”
“I think that Mr. Poilievre’s approach and attacking Mr. Singh and claiming he has a personal financial motivation for making big decisions for this country borders on slander,” said May.
CBC News asked Shanker Trivedi, the program director of the Schulich School of Business masters of accounting program, to calculate the leaders’ pensions.
He estimated the current lifetime value of Poilievre’s pension at $1.75 million, assuming he leaves politics after this year, starts collecting his pension at 65 and lives until 82 — the average life expectancy in Canada. According to Trivedi’s math, Singh’s lifetime pension is worth an estimated present-day value of $502,000.
Trivedi said Poilievre’s pension is much larger than Singh’s because he’s been an MP for more than 20 years. Singh has been in the House of Commons for almost six years.
Poilieve became an MP in 2004 at the age of 25. He qualified for his pension at 31, making him at the time one of the youngest MPs to do so.
“So obviously he accrues more pensions,” said Trivedi. “And his pension is like 3.5 times in present value terms compared to Jagmeet Singh, so that’s interesting.”
Since pension calculations can vary widely depending on the inputs, Trivedi used a uniform formula for all five federal leaders to ensure what he called an “apples-to-apples” comparison.
The calculations are based on an elected official leaving politics after this year, beginning to draw from their full pension at age 65 and living until age 82. Trivedi used other metrics published in the most recent report by the office of the chief actuary, which administers the MP pension plan.
Trudeau will qualify for his MP pension at 65, and then his combined MP and prime ministerial pension at 67. Starting at 67, he will be able to draw about $230,000 in combined pensions annually.
Changing the inputs can dramatically change the estimated value of pensions and still provide a “reasonable estimate,” said Dean Newell, an actuary with more than 20 years experience.
Newell tweaked the formula to calculate different figures.
MPs are eligible to draw their pensions at age 55 if they assume a penalty. Newell’s math assumed a longer lifespan than Trivedi’s calculations. Both changes affect the total value of the pension, making it larger.
Newell, the vice president of Actuarial Solutions Inc., calculated the leaders’ accrued pensions as of the end of this year based on a scenario where they retire at 55 and live to 90.
That raised the current estimated value of Trudeau’s pension to $4.4 million, Poilievre’s to $3.4 million and Singh’s to $910,000.
“There’s different ways to look at a pension and value a pension,” said Newell. “And those different ways can result in fairly dramatic differences.”
The Conservatives’ estimate of Singh’s pension is taken from the Canadian Taxpayer Federation. That organization calculated last year that if Singh took his pension early at 55 and lived until 90, his total payout at that point would be $2.3 million.
In his statement, Skamski said “CBC executives and top broadcast reporters should reveal their pensions and salaries before pretending to be the voice of transparency for Canadians.
“Unlike CBC, Pierre Poilievre’s compensation is fully public for anyone to calculate.”
CBC News asked all party leaders for their House of Commons pension figures; none of them provided that information. May did provide her own estimate based on publicly available information; it was about $7,500 lower than CBC’s figure.
About 6.9 million people were active members of registered pension plans in Canada in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. Two-thirds of people working in Canada do not have a pension.
‘Gold-plated’ retirements
Trivedi said the MP pension plan is more generous than some Canadians’ pension plans, in part because it’s a defined benefit plan and is fully indexed to inflation.
“MPs’ pensions are known as gold-plated pensions,” he said. “They’re the best available in the land.”
Newell also noted MP’s pensions cap out at roughly 75 per cent of their final average pensionable earnings and said MPs do contribute “a fair bit of money towards them” compared to some Canadians.
“Right now, MPs are contributing over 20 per cent of pay for them to accrue that pension,” said Newell. “That’s a fairly hefty employee contribution rate required for a pension plan.”
Pierre Poilievre is urging Jagmeet Singh to end the NDP’s deal with the Liberals and trigger a fall election, as the Conservatives ride high in the polls.
The difference between getting a pension and not getting one is also significant, said Newell. If Singh doesn’t hit six years of service early next year, he’s only entitled to a refund of his pension contributions with interest.
“So the value of reaching that six years is somewhat significant,” he said.
CBC News also consulted Université de Sherbrooke professor Anne MacKay, Carleton economics professor Frances Woolley and Université Laval accounting professor Daniel Coloumbe to look at Trivedi’s calculations.
CBC News contacted all of the political parties for comment. The Liberals and NDP said they had nothing to add. The Bloc Quebecois didn’t respond.
The House of Commons told CBC News it “cannot provide specific details about an individual’s pension.” It was among the government agencies that provided CBC News with publicly available formulas used for calculations.
