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4
ARMED FORCES PENSIONERS
’
/ANNUITANTS
’
ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
Provincial and federal govern-
ments are moving forward with the in-
troduction of legislation that would
allow for the conversion of defined
benefit plans to target benefit plans or
shared risk plans. These plans are a
unique type of pension plan that blends
elements of defined-benefit and de-
fined-contribution plans to provide a
base monthly pension at retirement
(which may be allowed to change, de-
pending on the pension plan’s perform-
ance) with limited or conditional
indexation. The benefits paid in retire-
ment are linked with how well the pen-
sion plan performs. Target benefit
plans are similar to multi-employer
pension plans, where a number of em-
ployers (usually within the same indus-
try) share a pension plan, and to
jointly-sponsored plans where employ-
ees and the employer share funding
and governance accountabilities.
In January 2015, our organization
joined the Canadian Coalition for Re-
tirement Security which was estab-
lished to ensure the protection of
public and private sector employees’
accrued and retirees’ pensions and ben-
efits. The Coalition is composed of 23
organizations that together represent
close to 6 million working and retired
Canadians.
The Canadian Coalition for Retire-
ment Security believes that a deal is a
deal: pensions are deferred wages
whose payment has been committed by
the employer in exchange for the em-
ployee’s years of service. Public and
private sector employers must honour
existing pension commitments made to
pensioners and employees, and ac-
crued pension benefits should not be
changed. That belief drives our com-
mon vision: that public and private sec-
tor employers honour existing pension
commitments to pensioners, veterans,
and employees.
In the coming months the Coalition
will mount a non-partisan campaign to
leverage public support for federal and
provincial legislation that would pro-
tect the accrued benefits – that is, re-
tirement benefits that have already
been earned – of public and private
sector employees and retirees.
The timing of a federal election in
2015 will provide greater opportunity
to engage the public, you our members,
and our politicians and candidates in
this discussion.
We know Canadians are in agree-
ment. In June 2014, Ipsos Reid found
that while a substantial proportion of
Canadians (44%) recognize the diffi-
culty employers may have in providing
pensions for their employees and pen-
sioners, many more — more than nine
in ten Canadians (94%) – agree that
employers should live up to the com-
mitments they have made to pensioners
and employees.
What’s more, Canadians are clear
that they expect their governments to
make sure this happens: 92% agree that
in developing a new pension frame-
work, governments should ensure that
companies honour the commitments
made to pensioners and employees.
Canadians believe in protecting re-
tirees’ accrued pensions and in em-
ployers honouring the pension
promises made to retirees and employ-
ees – and with our Coalition partners,
we are working to make sure that hap-
pens so that Canadians can achieve re-
tirement income security.
Retired RCMP officer, Gary
Oberg, President of the National Asso-
ciation of Federal Retirees will act as
the spokesperson for the Coalition. The
Canadian Coalition for Retirement Se-
curity comprises 23 organizations, as-
sociations, veterans groups, unions,
and seniors groups, including:
Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
•
Air Canada Pionairs
•
Armed Forces Pensioners’/Annui-
•
tants’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 Associ-
•
ation
Congress of Union Retirees of
•
Canada
Council of Senior Citizens’ Organ-
•
izations of British Columbia
Maritime Aviation Veterans Asso-
•
ciation
National Association of Federal
•
Retirees
National Pensioners Federation
•
NL Coalition of Pensioners, Re-
•
tirees, & Seniors Organizations
Public Service Alliance of Canada
•
RCMP Veterans’Association
•
The Professional Institute of the
•
Public Service of Canada
UNIFOR
•
Internal Message to Coalition Member
Organizations Constituencies