The City of Calgary has come under fire after new data revealed it spends more on employee pensions than any other major Canadian city.The data collected by SecondStreet.org and recently reported on by the Western Standard show a pension system of extremely generous retirement benefits for city workers.According to the data, more than 2,500 city employees will collect two pensions upon retirement, while 126 belong to the so-called “triple pension club,” receiving three separate pensions — a base plan and two taxpayer-funded top-ups.One of those top-ups, known as an “overcap pension,” is entirely funded by Calgary taxpayers.Ward 13 Councillor Dan McLean has been pushing for answers about the overcap pension since he was sworn into office.McLean claims the practice stretches back to former mayor Naheed Nenshi’s time in office.“Shame on the previous councils and mayors for letting this happen,” McLean said.“It's wrong. I’ve made numerous inquiries into it, and it was something that there was no vote on record for.”.Calgary spends more on city worker pensions than ten other Canadian cities combined.He added, “The administration did come back and say that this was an error, that it never happened. It’s unacceptable. It seems like a lot of people are expecting a pension that's probably undeserved, and payoffs that are getting undeserved.”Ward 1 Councillor and Calgary mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp said the practice, if true, needs to end.“We need to put a stop to this nonsense,” she said, adding that city council pensions are far less lucrative than some critics suggest, saying, “both the city and councillors pay into it.”“Having served one term, when I turn 65, it pays a few hundred dollars a month,” Sharp said in an emailed statement.The number of employees receiving three pensions has grown steadily over the past several years, from 45 in 2018 to 126 today.“There's so much waste and inefficiency at City Hall. We hired 1000 new employees,” McLean said.“I don't know how that affects some of these pensions or double pensions, but that third pension, I believe, was just for the top echelons and mayors.”SecondStreet.org estimates that limiting employees to one pension could save Calgary taxpayers nearly $13 million annually.Critics argue the money could be used instead to ease rising property taxes or fund essential services.“My job at City Council is to identify overspending and waste,” McLean said.“We should be focusing on filling potholes, public safety, and hiring more police officers, not funding triple pensions for a handful of employees.”.Calgary city council to spend millions on infrastructure and other projects.Meanwhile, McLean says he and a group of colleagues, including Sharp and Councillor Andre Chabot, have been working together as opposition to what has been going on at city hall and have been pressing the administration for answers.“There’s still more work to do,” he said, calling the situation “a work in progress.”Mayoral candidate Jeff Davison also weighed in, accusing council of avoiding accountability.“This council has given themselves raise after raise without holding themselves accountable for the decisions they have made,” he told the Western Standard.“As [Calgary’s] next mayor, I am committed to a comprehensive and transparent review of the city’s total compensation plan, which includes pensions. That means we review prior to budgeting, not complaining about compensation in June, when we passed it in November.”Taxpayer advocacy groups are also sounding the alarm.“Many hardworking people can’t count on one pension from their jobs — it’s outrageous that Calgary politicians are porking out on multiple pensions at the expense of taxpayers,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.“These stacked politician pensions should have been scrapped at City Hall years ago.”She added that the issue is even more glaring in light of recent tax increases.“Politicians at Calgary City Hall just slapped people with an 8.9% property tax hike in the spring — seeing them stack up their pensions is gross, and voters should demand better in the election.”
