Premier Kathleen Wynne is accusing the prime minister of wilfully ignoring what she calls the retirement income crisis.

She says Stephen Harper will hurt the middle class across Canada, so if he can’t lead the way, then he should get out of the way.

Federal and provincial Tories are joining to take issue with her criticism of  Harper over pension reform during a speech to the Liberals’ annual convention in Toronto.

The federal government has issued a statement saying Wynne’s vision of pension reform would mean higher payroll taxes that would shrink pay cheques and hurt business.