Your pension threatened?

Volume 27, Issue 4
April 2017

Bob bolf, president

 

Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, was quietly introduced in the House of Commons on October 19, 2016. There was no notice given to the public and the federal government made no other mention of this bill.

This bill creates a framework for dismantling defined benefit (DB) pension plans within the federal government. It attempts to set up target-benefit (TB) pension plans instead.

This legislation, if passed, would affect federal private sector and Crown Corporations only, but once passed would open the door for provinces attempting to pass similar legislation to remove DB pension plans. It opens the door for the Ontario government to take away your current DB pension plan and replace it with a TB pension plan, or one that does not promise to payout pension benefits at a stated rate.

Since a gram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure, we suggest you email your federal Member of Parliament and voice your opposition to Bill C-27. If it gets voted down or withdrawn, it reduces the threat to your pension plan. You can find your Member of Parliament using your postal code.