(Toronto, ON) – This morning Ontario PC Leadership contender MPP Monte McNaughton released his plan to address the Liberal government’s proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP).

“As Premier, I will cancel the ORPP within six months of forming government, and refund the money to Ontario families and businesses,” said McNaughton. “The Wynne-Liberals are going to take thousands of dollars out of the pockets of Ontario Families with their poorly designed ORPP.”

“Because no benefits will have been paid out to Ontario residents by the date of the next election, I will make sure that every penny is refunded to any individual or business that has paid into the system” explained McNaughton. “The ORPP will not help Ontario’s least fortunate families, will hurt the economy, and will make it more expensive for businesses to hire people.”

McNaughton is the only Ontario PC Leadership candidate who has promised to cancel the ORPP. The others have only said that they oppose the ORPP in principle, but have not said they will shut it down, much less refund the money to Ontario families and businesses.

Assistant Professor, Ian Lee, at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business said, “Under the ORPP, the mandatory employer and employee contribution that will be withdrawn from Ontario’s economy will be a combined $2470 for someone earning $65,000 a year.  That mandatory withdrawal from Ontario’s economy is money that will not be spent or invested otherwise, and this will slow down Ontario’s economy further than it already is.  This is the last thing we need to do.

There is a perception that the ORPP will benefit the lower 40 per cent of income earners. It won’t – because every dollar received from ORPP will reduce GIS benefits by exactly one dollar. Instead, it will provide a small net benefit to the top 60 per cent.”

“We have to cancel the ORPP right after the next election, before the collected money begins to be distributed,” said McNaughton. “Cancelling the ORPP and refunding the money to Ontario families and businesses is the right way forward.”

“There is a small window of opportunity to repeal the ORPP when it comes into law – a four to five year window – whereby the ORPP can be repealed and the money refunded to contributors so that it can be reinvested into Ontario’s economy,” summarized Lee.

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