Vern's previous high-paying job has not been much help towards retirement. He has no TFSA or RRSP, and his LIRA is worth a lot less than Colleen's DBPP.  Meanwhile, he earns under half of Colleen, and that is not even counting benefits.

Colleen's early-retirement pension income is misstated. She does NOT get extra income if she retires early. She actually gets less. Assuming there is no other penalty for early retirement, since she will only have 29 years of service at age 60 rather than 34 years service at age 65, her pension at age 60 will be only 29/34 or 85% of her pension at age 65, not counting any above-inflation pay raises.

Meanwhile, Vern has NO "pension income" to be reduced. His LIRA is just an investment plan. Working on contract most likely means no benefits. While he can get along with Colleen's medical benefits, he will not have a pension plan.