I will comment further on the teachers' vote this past week. But, not until I quell my simmering rage. My opinion: it was a vote on an offer that really had nothing to do with pay. Had to do with the future of education in this AB. #AbLeg
Travis, if elected, will be @jkenney's Muppet. And, apparently, the majority of sitting UCP MLAs are fine with that. #AbLeg
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This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️reminisces! I just came across my copy of the Nov 30, 2019 Ponoka News Where @RonOrrMLA is busy repeating the UCP line! All the greatest hits like... #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
"...this means that every teacher will get paid a government guaranteed pension until the day they die;"
Well, @RonOrrMLA that just isn't true. The guarantee was removed in 1992. Which makes this decision by Kevin and Travis highly suspect and oppressive. #AbLeg#handsoff
"Their union told them that the ATRF managers had higher returns than AIMCO."
No Ron. Just no. The ATRF WHICH IS A JOINT BODY HALF APPOINTED BY GOA told both the teachers and Travis that ATRF had demonstrably outperformed @aimcoinvests. #AbLeg
The Pension War Room™️reports that teachers narrowly (51%) accepted the mediators recommendations! The parallels to @jkenney's leadership vote abound. #AbLeg calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-teache…
On the surface this avoids, for the time being, a strike or extended lockout. Long term not so much. As much as this vote was about a contract it was about so much more than money. It was about pension, curriculum, respect and a hundred other issues. #AbLeg
It was even about stupid shit like issues managers always referring to our duly elected president, Jason Schilling @schill_dawg by pejorative terms instead of by his name and title. Straight from the @jkenney book of comms. #AbLeg#horseshit
This is your daily pension announcement: Travis is running for the UCP leadership! Without a doubt as @jkenney's preferred candidate. Not a good strategy at all, given the financial mistakes he has made (pensions included). #AbLeg
I am reminded of an interview that I did with a magazine from NY. They asked me why the UCP would be doing this to teachers? I gave a long technical answer. I shouldn't have. The answer was (and is): this was something that they could hurt teachers with. No more motivation req.
After all, the message was to be don't feel too confident about your deferred salary retirement savings. Travis has prevented any pension fund from accessing the highly competitive market for investment managers.#AbLeg#handsoffmypension
This is your daily pension announcement. The Pension War Room™️sinks into the ocean next to the effluent pipe that dumps dookies into the bay of pension policy. I have had my differences with Don Braid but he gives the best requiem here. #AbLeg calgaryherald.com/opinion/column…
I have many happy memories of being attacked by GOA staffers for bringing up valid criticism of pension policy. Fun times. In democracies, governments need to take valid criticism and move on. See the curriculum. #AbLeg
Today a thought from Leo de Bever, the first CEO of @aimcoinvests circa 2019: "Alberta exiting the CPP would not make a great deal of sense." He went on to say sometimes politicians say stupid things just to get attention. #Ableg#handsoffmypension
This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️dives into fecal settling pond that is AB politics! I again savored JK's radio show as he likely only has a few editions left. Unabashedly illogical is the only description I can offer. #AbLeg
He got his weekly "why is AHS so expensive" question. This week he retorts with "we hired Ernst and Young" (in 2019) to give us cost savings measures....
...but then fails to mention that E&Y recommended closing rural hospitals. Advice JK has steadfastly ignored. #AbLeg
One week JK said (about AHS)... "we give them money and don't tell them their health business".
This week we heard the far more accurate "we fired the CEO because she wasn't doing what we wanted"...
This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️will discuss the recently calculated $30 million in transition costs to using @aimcoinvests. For context, compare the size of the fund at $22,400 million to this $30 million expenditure. #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
The transition costs are (relatively) small and are one time costs. They are still regrettable and were avoidable with diligence and planning, but Travis Toews and his chief deputy Athana Mentzelopolos could provide neither of those things. #AbLeg#idiotseverywhere
I would note, for the record, that Kevin Uebelein did not produce an estimate of transition costs in @aimcoinvests' "business plan" to takeover ATRF's investment operation. This was a stark dereliction of duty on the part of all three of them. #AbLeg#handsoffmypension