Bill C-78 - Update as of June 15, 1999

Our last hope rests with the Senate Opposition

Committee Report:

The Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee reported Bill C-78 back to the Senate on Tuesday, June 15, 1999 without amendment. As a result, the Bill will be debated at Third Reading on June 16th, with the final vote on June 17th. While the Liberal Majority on the Committee did the governments dirty work, and set the stage for third reading and Royal Assent before the Senate recesses for the summer, the Committee expressed considerable unease with the legislative process and some of the more controversial aspects of the Bill.

In a seven page appendix to its Twenty-Seventh Report, the Committee expressed its concern with:

"the intensity of the unease of the witnesses about various measures in the Bill and by the undue speed with which this Bill has been rushed through the legislative process. Although Bill C-78 is being reported without amendment, the Committee feels compelled to express its disappointment about the process and its concern about how these pension plans will be managed in the future."

The Committee went on to address a number of issues, and advance observations and recommendations that it hopes will "lead to a sound, transparent and financially sustainable pension regime for the federal public service". These observations and recommendations include:

• a resumption of discussions between Treasury Board and federal public sector unions "with a view to concluding a mutually-acceptable joint management and risk sharing agreement:

• the disposition of any future pension surplus in the federal public service pension plans be decided by the joint pension management board, notwithstanding any provisions in Bill C-78.

• there is no justifiable reason why Canada Post and the unions representing its employees cannot begin to negotiate the provisions of their pension plan(s) immediately.

• the President of the Treasury Board initiate a Parliamentary Review of the operation of the proposed Public Sector Pension Investment Board no later than three years after the coming into force of Bill C-78.
  

While these and other Committee observations and recommendations are positive, the Committee's failure to pronounce definitively on the disposition of the existing $30 billion surplus, is an outrageous affront to the 700,000 current government workers, employees and retirees who are plan members. On the question of disposition of the existing surplus, the Liberal Majority on the Committee concluded, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that government is entitled to the surplus. Opposition members of the Committee disagreed, and argued that "the disposition of surplus assets should instead be negotiated between plan members and the employer".

What Next?

It is clear from the Senate Committee Report that the government must return to the table and discuss--with a view to reaching agreement--joint management, distribution of future surplus, and a number of other issues. While the PSAC will participate in these discussions, we will not abandon our claim to the existing surplus, and will pursue the issue during any future discussions with the Treasury board, and through court action.