TORONTO - Seniors and retirees are capable of handling their own affairs and don't need the government to watch over their savings, Conservative Leader John Tory said Thursday and pledged that if elected, he would he unlock some pension funds beginning at the age of 55.

When employees leave a company, their pension contributions are sometimes transferred into a locked-in fund, which can only be accessed after retirement and cannot be withdrawn as a lump sum.

Tory's plan would allow retirees to withdraw 50 per cent of their locked-in savings at 55, and the remaining 50 per cent at 65.

"It's all about fairness for senior citizens and the fact they know how to manage their own money and look after their own affairs better than the government does,'' he said.

"We tried to come to a balanced solution that gave seniors more rights to look after their own money, but at the same time, respected the fact it should perhaps be done in the kind of graduated basis we suggested.''

The government proposed in its March budget, and just passed the regulations to allow retirees to withdraw up to 25 per cent of their locked-in funds at age 55, but some critics say that's not enough.

"We're not children, people can take care of themselves and know how to grow their own money,'' said Bill Gleberzon, director of government relations for Canada's Association for the Fifty Plus, while calling for the right to make a full 100 per cent withdrawal.

"Our campaign is about giving Ontarians with locked-in funds a sense of dignity, to remove the paternalistic shackles that are preventing them from accessing their own money.''

He said 66 members of Ontario's provincial parliament were allowed full 100 per cent access to their locked-in funds in 1999 and the rest of the public should have that same right.

Saskatchewan has also allowed 100 per cent access to locked-in funds.

"The rationale (the government) give us is they think people will waste their money and become wards of the state,'' Gleberzon said.

"And we say this isn't Dickensian England, people are not irrational, they're not stupid.''

Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said that giving retirees 25 per cent access to their locked-in funds is a fair compromise, and anything more would defeat the purpose of building a pension plan with steady payments.

"We've got a responsibility to make sure that pension funds continue to do what they were designed to do, and that is to provide for seniors in their retirement years,'' Sorbara said.

"We did a very comprehensive study of this before we put it in the budget and we felt the most prudent thing to do was to maintain a strong pension but at the same time, allow retirees to have access to up to 25 per cent of the retirement pool.''

Access to locked-in funds is bound to be an contentious election issue and retirees who are growing in number across the province will be watching closely as it's debated, said Morris Jesion, executive director of the Ontario Society of Senior Citizens' Organizations.

"It's a good promise that (Tory) made and we're waiting to see what the other parties will do,'' Jesion said.

"You should have access to your own money, period.''