TORONTO - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's refusal to hold a national summit on pension reform is baffling, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday as he predicted the issue would be intensely debated at the annual premiers' meeting in Regina this summer.

Canada has an aging population of baby boomers who have not adequately prepared for their retirement and "are going to be in trouble," especially those without workplace pensions, warned McGuinty.

"Frankly I can't understand -- and I raised it personally with the prime minister a number of times -- why he would not want us to begin a national conversation," he said.

"It's a really important issue. It is non-partisan. It is national in scope and I believe it demands a national response."

A spokesman for Harper said Tuesday that the prime minister had discussed pension reform with McGuinty and wanted to pursue further talks on the issue, even if it's not a "national summit" as McGuinty requested.

"The federal government is definitely open to further discussions on this matter," said Harper's press secretary, Dimitri Soudas.

"I think what's important is not how we define the discussions, but that the discussions actually take place."

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia are also talking about some kind of pension reforms to make sure people can afford to maintain a quality lifestyle when they retire, said McGuinty.

"I think it's unfair for us to turn to our kids and say `you're going to have to pick up the tab,"' he said.

"We need to begin to do some things sooner rather than later to make sure we can enjoy a decent standard of living in our retirement years."

Ontario's New Democrats want the province to introduce its own pension plan to supplement the Canada Pension Plan, an idea McGuinty said last month that he would consider, but one he dismissed Tuesday saying the issue required a national approach.

"We don't accept what the premier says that the answer lies in a whole new set of endless talks with the federal government," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

"It should not be seen as an issue to be punted off to Ottawa because it's simply too hot for this government to handle."

Corporate pension plans have been in trouble in part because of last year's collapse of stock markets and other factors that have left many companies unable to deal with billions of dollars of obligations.

At a meeting last month, Canada's federal and provincial finance ministers agreed on a study group to look at Canada's private pension plan system. Ted Menzies, parliamentary secretary to Jim Flaherty, will head the group, which will include provincial representation.

Ontario's New Democrats launched a "pensions for all" campaign Tuesday, saying two-thirds of workers in the province have no pension at all.

The party also called for improvements to Ontario's Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund, which is supposed to provide up to $1,000 a month to workers whose company pension plans fail or cannot provide the full benefit.

That benefit should be increased to as much as $2,500 a month as recommended by Harry Arthurs, who was hired by the Liberal government to do a report on the pension situation in Ontario, said Horwath.

"The government's own consultant that undertook the review of the pension system recommends exactly what New Democrats are calling for," she said.

"The Arthurs report is the blue print that the government already has in hand to be able to fix Ontario's pension system."

New Democrat Paul Miller will tour Ontario to get public input on the party's call for an Ontario Pension Plan to supplement the CPP.

"With an absence of a decent retirement comes an absence of dignity," said Miller.

"It means not eating properly, not having a decent place to call home."