Stephen Harper’s first big political oops?

Politicians should start looking at their own pension plan and on how much tax payers are paying into it. Heck, a MLA can get a pension after serving only 3 years, I had to serve 20 years in the military to get a small pension that's not even indexed with the cost of living. Perhaps I am not seeing the big picture, so to speak.

Cut Big Govt spending you fool, its right in front of you why do you think people want to run in politics, PERKS PERKS PERKS!! Insane Pensions , REFORM THE MP GOVT PENSIONS they should not have any ! They receive min$30k per yr for a lousy 6yrs in GOVT who has that in this country??

Harper should have reformed the MP's platinum pensions first, before making changes to the OAS and CPP. If Harper's majority is due to the fact that most seniors vote then maybe at the the next election it'll be the seniors and almost seniors who vote him out. Did Harper really think that the seniors and other pensioners were going to roll over and play dead?

There are more than enough seniors in Canada to see to it that any conservative M.P.that tries to mess with their pension will be out of a job at the next election,even a stupid politician can understand that.

Blank cheque for the military and tax breaks and subsidies for big oil. And seniors who paid taxes all their life, many of whom fought for and literally took bullets for this country, have to tighten their belt.
who voted for this concept ?

You are dam rights he pzzed us off and I let my MP have it with both barrels in an e-mail plus a diplomatic note to the BOIE committee who are now charged with revamping (sorry- making suggestions) the platinum pensions of these crooks on the Hill as well as the nicely indexed pensions of our really hard working public servants (oxymoron or not). For my self I am over 65 so this does not affect me and OAS is not an issue. I saved for a comfortable retirement but I know there are people only 10 years away who are going to get kicked in the head just because prev. govts. treated our pension contributions as general revenue, for the most part, since the inception of CPP. I know of a few people who also need the OAS since no one is going to live on CPP alone. This will have two neg. effects that this country does not need- more people will choose to remain in the workforce until such time as they can acquire the full pension and in doing so, they will be blocking the young upcoming generation from taking their place in the workforce. Dumb idea either way. There are alot of other ways to make us more financially secure as a nation but the politicians only look to re-election and not necessarily the good of the nation and her people.

Last time I looked our total population was only roughly) 35 million, total workforce approximately 9 (?) million. We are aware that this is a population bubble but our country's net worth should be what underwrites this. Why do the ultra-rich, the Banking industry and the multi-nationals get tax breaks (to spur investment they say) and The Common Man pays through the nose just to live. We pay top dollar to politicians to "attract the best minds of the private sector". BS. Let's see some proof of that! All I see is Politics (nudge nudge wink wink) and silence.

First Harper must reduce the gold plated pensions of all the MP's and any other govt. employee with the same. When an MP dies, his spouse will receive one third of the pension while the rest of us govt. workers will only receive one half and we paid into ours compared to what these parasites put in. We work for 30 or more years for OAS but not the politicians. That has to be changed also. The population is decreasing and to make sure there will be OAS for them, it should be increased to 67 as people are working longer and CPP should start at 65. Many years ago, OAS started at 70 years. Most of all the govt. must stop wasting our money and no more to other countries as the people rarely if ever see any on it. This is my opinion like it or lump it.

Canadian CEO and Upper Management Wage and Benefits Increased 444+% In 10 Years as Corporations and Harpers Order Canadians to Reduce Our Wages and Benefits :(

Reminds me of what an RCMP officer said at the G20 " THIS ISN"T CANADA ANYMORE" or words to that effect. Makes me sad to think the Canadian government will sacrifice seniors for Corporations.
MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. and the CONServative government has proven this over and over.

I'm sure that Mr. Harper and the rest of the government will also adjust their respective pensions to reflect what they are asking the seniors of Canada. Let me re-think that statement. Do pigs fly?

Seniors vote in droves. This isn't the first of Stevie's major political gaffs, but it will be the biggest. Considering that the majority of these changes will take place in 2016, when the election of 2015 takes, the upcoming screwing of seniors will be at the top of their lists.

Old people are exactly that, old. When you take away their means of surviving, they have nothing left to lose and if they are going down, you will be going with them.

how about cutting out the multi-million dollar embassies, sussex, the governor general's castle, the fancy parties, flying the MP's back and forth to Ottawa instead of "voting online", keeping two offices for them, one in Ottawa, one in their riding, and the 100's of other things that we really don't need as Canadians! Let's take care of the people who built Canada instead!!!!

they don't really care about OAS pension , these persons get a full pension after 6 years in the job as politiciens . this pension is based on $100,000.00 annual base salairy.

Wait till we find out just how bad the Omnibus bill is. this is just the beginning.

Have to agree with the article. Harper made a big big mistake attacking seniors. Putting granny and grandpa out on the street is going to help put the last nail in Harpers re election chances.

Lets Cut Harpers $6+ MILLION Pension First and then MPs,Senators!!!

@ Nemesis. Too bad the facts don't back your rant. You said money doesn't grow on trees, when in fact it could. You see that is the problem with Canada there is no vision, just punishment. Our trees are cut down for a stump fee and the logs are shipped somewhere else to be used to create employment. If Canada could only learn to reinvest its wealth money could grow on trees and Canadians would be getting the jobs and share they deserve from the wealth of our country. But as long as we keep selling our natural resources and not reinvesting these conversations and rants will continue. Here is an idea to bring work back to Canadians. Right now across Canada lumber mills and paper mills are either shutting down or are sitting there empty. We know that cutting down trees is bad for the environment. Actually by stopping cutting down trees we could actually reverse Global Warming. So why doesn't the government invest in turning these mills into mills that will turn hemp into paper. Russia has already started doing this and supposedly it only cost a couple of million dollars to do the change to an existing mill. Trees could be saved and it is environmentally cleaner to produce hemp paper. And let’s say the government said in order to create a demand for our own product and keep Canadians employed the paper produced in these mills would be used by all government agencies and schools. And tax breaks would be given to companies who used are Canadian produced paper. Well paying jobs, environmentally friendly products can all be made from our resources and then we could leave the elderly alone.

"Fisrt big political oops"? You're kidding, right?

Never again will you get my vote Mr Harper. I worked hard all my life at a small wage, raised a family, and had a difficult struggle doing it. I couldn't put away money because I never had it. The small company I worked for did not have a pension plan. Now I am nearing 65, losing my job due to economic times, and can't find another because of my age. However I must either work of die. I cannot live on the OAS of $ 500. a month, but I might survive on it, living in poverty. Now you are taking that away for 2 more years. I will either starve to death or freeze to death. Neither one is a very desirable or honorable way for one to come to the end of his life. There are millions just like me Mr Harper. Not everyone had a plushy job, with big wages and a government pension plan. Some Canadians were honest hard working citizens, who believed you should earn your money, and rather than hoard it up, if you had any extra at the end of the day, help the less fortunate. Obviously you don't see it that way. Here's your hat, guess you will be leaving next election. Enjoy your retirement!