FINANCE MINISTERS -
But Flaherty warned Canadians that changes won't come quickly even if an agreement is reached in P.E.I. over the next couple of days.
Flaherty met with reporters early Sunday afternoon at a downtown Charlottetown hotel before meetings got underway.
"Changes to the Canada Pension Plan take a long time," said Flaherty.
"They have to go through the various governments in Canada, all of them. This is not something that would happen quickly, and quite frankly nor should it because pensions are so important. They have generational consequences."
Flaherty hopes to be able to get an agreement on direction while meeting with provincial and territorial finance ministers in Lakeside today and tomorrow.
"I don't expect to get an agreement on how much and how quickly we might, for example, modify the Canada Pension Plan," Flaherty told reporters.
"But I hope we can get enough provinces and territories - of course the federal government is onside - to agree that we'll move forward."
The federal government wants to move forward with a modest, phased-in mandatory increase to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) as well as increased financial literacy and changes that would allow financial institutions and insurance companies to offer low-cost retirement options to multiple employers, all employees and to the self-employed.
Flaherty and his officials were met by a small group of protesters at the Charlottetown Airport on Sunday morning.
Most of them were union representatives who are pushing Flaherty and other finance ministers to move quickly to implement changes to Canada's pension programs.
A group called CARP, a seniors lobby group, says 60 per cent of working Canadians do not have access to a workplace pension and one in three Canadians retire without any savings.
… EDITOR'S NOTE: The Guardian will have the latest developments on the finance ministers' meetings online throughout the day on Monday and in The Guardian on Monday and Tuesday.
