CP: Taxpayers boosted MPs' pension fund through recession

[tuvor]

OTTAWA — The gold-plated pension fund for members of Parliament rose by 10 per cent during the global recession -- thanks to Canadian taxpayers, whose own pension funds and retirement savings nosedived.

A new report shows the half-billion-dollar pension fund for MPs and senators jumped in value by $53.8 million in 2008-09.

Over the same period, private pension plans in Canada lost an average of 21 per cent of their value, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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Yet the parliamentary plan was immune to the market meltdown that decimated millions of Canadians' retirement nest eggs. That's because its interest rate is set by regulation and backed by ordinary taxpayers.

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