As finance ministers gather in Ottawa for a meeting today and tomorrow there will be some new faces around the table.
Eight of the 14 have been appointed to their portfolios since the finance ministers last held a meeting.
More importantly, three key players are not only new — but are from different political parties than their predecessors and seem to hold different views on key issues — especially when it comes to enriching the Canada Pension Plan.
Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the federal government all switched hands in the last year, moving from conservative parties to liberal ones (if not by party name, then by ideology).
With that has come a change in the dynamics around the table. Alberta, once among the staunchest opponents of CPP enhancement, is now pushing for it.
Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci said ahead of his government's first budget last October that he was open to "responsible, phased-in, enhancements to the CPP."
Currently, the CPP is structured such that contributions are mandatory and deducted from employees' pay at a rate of 4.95% of earnings up to $50,600 in 2015 — after the personal exemption is applied.
On top of that, employers must match the contributions of each of their employees dollar for dollar, which is where a number of concerns arise.
In the wake of the financial crisis, a number of Canadian governments argued the economy needed time to recover and strengthen before making any changes that would mean more expense for businesses and less money for consumers to spend now.
With the oil-shock still rippling through the economy, one provincial minister said now still isn't the time to move on the issue. In the meantime, he said, there are plenty of other savings options on the table — including RRSPs, tax-free savings accounts, and the newly created pooled registered pension plans some national insurance companies will be offering.
British Columbia may be the only other provincial government left with clear objections to moving on this issue, and it also cites the state of the economy.
Ottawa has said in the past it needed at least seven provinces representing at least half of the population of the country onside to move ahead
