'Where we see this government going with this is just very frightening,' says CUPE Alberta president
The future of retirement security in Alberta is seemingly bleak, particularly as a provincial government signals it may exit out of a national pension that workers have paid into for decades. That’s why CUPE Alberta’s latest campaign is built around that warning rather than internal union politics and aims to divest the United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP)’s efforts away from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
As CUPE Alberta president Raj Uppal explained, the campaign is focused on informing both the public and CUPE members while directing those concerns toward MLAs and the provincial government. The intent is to make clear where Albertans stand on the proposal and to convey the implications of moving ahead with an Alberta-only plan.
“CPP is something that Canadians, particularly Albertans, stand by and proudly support. Albertans and unions have that responsibility for bringing out the voice of the vulnerable in raising issues that are not in the best interest of all Albertans and CPP is one of them. It is the biggest threat to our future,” underscored Uppal.
She believes that the province’s push to exit the national pension framework exposes Albertans to significant financial and governance risks. She notes that shifting from a large, diversified national fund to part of a smaller pool in Alberta’s own fund would almost inevitably translate into weaker performance and diminished long-term pension value. In her view, the structural advantages of scale would be lost, leaving contributors with “lower returns and fewer dollars” supporting their retirement.
Her greater concern centers on the prospect that the fund would be managed by another one of Canada’s maple eight funds, Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo). Uppal pointed to AIMCo’s recent history, underscoring how she believes the fund manager “has a terrible reputation and has lost billions of dollars in the past few years.”
She also highlighted new legislation shielding AIMCo from litigation, describing it as a signal that the government anticipates backlash or adverse outcomes. She suggests this raises questions about whether the fund could be leveraged for politically driven investments, such as energy infrastructure, without sufficient oversight.
Yet, AIMCo insists it “continues to operate independently” with a fiduciary focus on risk‑adjusted returns, according to Bloomberg.
Additionally, Uppal believes that the provincial government’s interest in withdrawing from the national pension framework may be driven by motives that do not align with the public interest. She argues that past decisions have shown a pattern of questionable stewardship, pointing to “billions lost in the Keystone pipeline” and other high-profile missteps involving AIMCo and hospital lab contracts.
Meanwhile, Uppal acknowledged that public sentiment is overwhelmingly negative. Internal research, she says, shows that only a small fraction of residents supports the proposal. For her, the combination of poor trust, weak transparency, and high potential downside makes the move deeply troubling for Albertans who rely on pension stability.
In her view, these examples reinforce a broader worry that the government may be seeking “access to the funds for very wrong reasons,” potentially to support ventures that benefit political allies.
According to Uppal, CUPE Alberta’s role on the LAPP sponsor board gives them insight into broader pension issues and governance risks. Drawing on past experiences, including LAPP’s legal case against AIMCO, she argued that there is ample evidence that an Alberta-only pension plan would introduce significant risk and uncertainty.
While she acknowledged that detailed cost projections haven’t been compiled, she emphasized that “in calculation by the history and where we see this government going with this is just very frightening.”
Uppal maintains that the CPP works as intended and requires no provincial intervention. For her, the issue is not the fund’s quality or performance, but the risk introduced by transferring control to a government that, in her words, has shown neither “good intentions” nor the capability to manage a complex, long-horizon asset pool.
Right now, CUPE’s goal with its campaign is to marshal enough public pressure that the government “will walk away from the idea” and “leave it alone.”
The effort goes well beyond basic education as CUPE is engaging members directly, outlining the risks they see in withdrawing from the national system and emphasizing how such a move could affect current retirees, future retirees, and younger generations.
In Uppal’s view, the issue is closely tied to affordability pressures, as many workers are already struggling with wages that do not keep pace with rising costs. Introducing new uncertainty around retirement income, she argues, would add unnecessary strain.
To advance the campaign, CUPE plans to conduct extensive province-wide outreach, including member meetings, town halls, and community sessions in both rural and urban areas. The goal is to create widespread visibility for the concerns being raised and to build pressure on the government to abandon the idea. Uppal characterized the potential shift as deeply destabilizing and believes it is essential to mobilize early and consistently to prevent it.
Uppal describes the campaign as something that originated at the grassroots level, driven by member anxiety and a desire for broader public awareness. She noted that CUPE represents many lower-wage workers, and for them the CPP serves as an essential “security blanket.”
According to Uppal, members understood that internal support was not enough and that they needed “everyday Albertans” and retirees to help amplify the message.
She also emphasized the perspective of immigrant members, who make up a significant share of the union. Many, she said, are deeply proud to build their lives in Canada and view the CPP as a form of stability they did not always have access to elsewhere. Their concern stems from a belief that recent provincial policy directions are not favourable to newcomers, making the protection of a dependable national retirement system even more important.
Across the membership, she noted the consistent theme that has emerged.
“Don’t fix what’s not broken,” she said, adding, “it’s the most safe, secure and reliable fund that we have and it's only because we are all in it together, as a nation.”
