Cdn. Retirement Income Security at risk . . .?

[Oscar]

Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security calls for pension protection

[ http://www.fsna.com/blog/2015/08/canadi ... rotection/ ]

August 4, 2015

Ottawa, ON (August 4, 2015) - Today, the Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security - comprised of 22 organizations and representing nearly six million working and retired Canadians - announced its campaign to push for legislation to protect the earned pension benefits of publicand private sector employees and retirees.

“The Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security believes a promise is a promise,” says Coalition spokesperson Jean-Guy Soulière. “A deal is a deal – governments and employers should not be allowed to go back on the promises and commitments made to millions of Canadians, including veterans, police and other loyal public servants when they were working.”

The campaign is being launched in response to the federal government’s plans to introduce target benefit or shared risk pension plans to Crown corporations and federally-regulated employers. Target benefit or shared risk plans provide a base monthly pension at retirement with limited or conditional indexation – all of which may be subject to change based on the plan’s financial performance. This is not what retirees were promised.

“Pensions are deferred compensation which employees pay for while working, and which an employer agrees to pay its employees upon retirement in return for the services rendered by those employees,” adds Soulière.

The Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security believes that no employer, in either the public or private sector, should be allowed to change the compensation promised to people once they have retired. Together, the Coalition is calling on Canada’s next federal government to take steps, including legislation, to protect Canadians from this threat to retirement security.

The Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security knows that Canadians stand firm in their belief in honouring pension promises. In June 2014, Ipsos Reid found that while a substantial proportion of Canadians (44%) recognize the difficulty employers may have in providing pensions for their employees and pensioners, many more — more than nine in ten Canadians (94%) – agree that employers should live up to the commitments they have made to pensioners and employees. And Canadians are clear that they expect their governments to make sure this happens: 92% agree that in developing any new pension framework, governments should ensure that employers honour the commitments made to pensioners and employees.

The Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security is comprised of 22 organizations, associations, veterans groups, unions, and seniors groups that share a common vision – that public and private sector employers must honour existing pension commitments to pensioners, veterans, and employees.

◦Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
◦Air Canada Pionairs
◦Armed Forces Pensioners’/Annuitants Association of Canada
◦Bell Pensioners’ Group
◦Canadian Association of Retired Teachers
◦Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
◦Canadian Federation of Pensioners
◦Canadian Labour Congress
◦Canadian Merchant Service Guild
◦Canadian Naval Air Group
◦Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association
◦Canadian Union of Postal Workers
◦CBC Pensioners National Association
◦Congress of Union Retirees of Canada
◦Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of British Columbia
◦Maritime Aviation Veterans’ Association
◦National Association of Federal Retirees
◦National Pensioners Federation
◦Newfoundland Coalition of Pensioners, Retirees and Seniors Organizations
◦Public Service Alliance of Canada
◦RCMP Veterans’ Association
◦The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

For more information please contact:

Sayward Montague, Chair,
Canadian Coalition for Retirement Security Steering Committee
smontague@fsna.com (613) 404-4554

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The National Association of Federal Retirees (FSNA) - Original Letter

Dear Candidate

This election, we ask you to make sure the next Government of Canada honours its commitments to retirees, to veterans and to all Canadians on retirement income security.

The federal government is planning to introduce legislation which could allow Crown corporations and federally-regulated employers to reduce benefits and eliminate indexation for pensioners after they have retired. These plans are called Target Benefit Pension or Shared Risk Pension plans. These plans are often seen as a middle ground between defined benefit plans, which offer a guaranteed pension, and a defined contribution plan, which provide benefits that rely on investments. Target Benefit Plans provide targets which depend on plan performance. Unfortunately, this means that benefits can be reduced and indexation limited during tough financial years.

This type of legislation was introduced in New Brunswick in 2013 for public sector employees and retirees. It may be a matter of time before we see these plans propagate. Employers are effectively changing their part of the pension agreement, after employees have retired. Employees played by the rules. They served their employers with honour and dedication during their careers. An employer that has benefitted from the services provided by retired employees should not be allowed to go back on the promises and commitments made to those pensioners when they were working.

Retirees do not have the ability to bargain in retirement; they do not have the leverage that employees have, and many do not have the option to earn other income. Their retirement income security cannot be left to the whims of employers and policy makers.

Canada’s retirees deserve retirement income security. The best security we can give them is legislation to ensure that no employer, public or private, can go back on the pension promises made to people once they are retired.

No employer, in either the public or private sector, should be allowed to change the compensation promised to people once they have retired. Our next government must take steps, including legislation, to protect pensioners.

Sincerely,

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GREEN PARTY RESPONSE

Thank you for writing about retirement income security. The Green Party believes that it is simply unfair to change the rules after people have retired. In the next Parliament, Green MPs will stand up to protect pensioners. We will fight to make sure that promises are not broken.

If an employee has contributed to a plan throughout their career and established an agreement with their employer, it is only fair that the employer should follow through with the agreement. Retirement is a time for people to move away from the financial and emotional stress of working. It is not the time for a retiree to have to go up against their previous employer alone with no collective bargaining group behind them for support. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that private and public commitments are kept, and to take appropriate action when they are not. The Green Party will review federal and provincial laws regulating the administration of pension plans, laws which now allow failure of pension trusts, and the loss of pension benefits that workers have earned.

The Green Party of Canada is a strong supporter of defined benefit retirement plans. They are much more efficient than defined contribution plans and target benefit plans. They produce significantly higher pensions for the same contributions, yet they both receive the same tax support. Green MPs will resist the shift to inefficient defined contribution and target benefit plans and require that all corporate pension plans be audited to ensure adequate funding and proper management.

Retirees and future retirees need to be able to trust their pension plans. In order to foster this confidence, the Green Party will support legislation to protect pension benefits. Retirees in Canada are not asking for much. They simply want to receive the pensions they have earned. The Green Party will stand up for pensioners.