Labour groups urge Morneau to abandon target benefit proposal
OTTAWA Labour groups are calling on Finance Minister Bill Morneau to kill a proposed law allowing socalled target benefit pension plans.
The finance minister introduced Bill C-27 a year ago to allow creation of the plans, which he advocated for as head of Morneau Shepell Inc., a human resources company his family founded. The proposed law hasn’t advanced at all in Parliament since then.
Labour groups say Bill C-27 was proposed without notice or consultation.
“This one just popped up on the radar, out of the blue,” Matt Wayland, an electrician and spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Canada, said Friday.
“We’ve asked them to remove it completely and consult with all stakeholders.”
Morneau didn’t respond to a question on whether the Liberals would withdraw the legislation. However, bills favoured by the government typically don’t sit idle in Parliament for as long as this proposal has.
“Bill C-27 hasn’t been brought to the House. It hasn’t been debated,” the finance minister told the CBC later Thursday.
The Canadian Labour Congress called the bill “a dangerous and immediate attack on future and current retirees” in a letter to Morneau.
The proposed law provides a framework for the establishment of target benefit plans, which are generally seen by labour as less preferable to defined benefit plans, which guarantee a monthly payout to retirees, and more preferable to defined contribution plans, which don’t guarantee a monthly payout.
Morneau Shepell worked closely with the government of New Brunswick to develop a sharedrisk pension plan, similar to a target benefit plan, according to its website. The province was grappling with an unfunded public pension liability at the time.
Morneau himself called for legislation allowing target benefit plans, describing them as an antidote for the underfunding of defined benefit plans.