Getting the retiree perspective

As mentioned in our last newsletter, one of the proposals in the provincial government's pension reform legislation, introduced late last year, was a suggestion that plans include retired members in the governance process. The proposal suggests the establishment of Pension Advisory Committees, composed of both active and retired members. Plans could be obligated to help set up a committee, and supply it with administrative support.

This idea is one of many included in the government's 2008 report from the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions, which was presented at the end of 2008.

Of course, much of the input a Pension Advisory Committee might have is already provided by the Board of Trustees in a jointly governed plan like the CAAT Plan. Members of the Board are selected by the Plan's three sponsoring bodies, all of whom have expressed a belief that retiree concerns must receive every consideration in governance deliberations. Seven of the twelve current Trustees are retired persons, and two of these are CAAT Plan pensioners. Plans that have joint governance, like ours, may be exempt from setting up a Pension Advisory Committee, since the views of all members are already represented.

One of the Plan's sponsors - Colleges Ontario, on behalf of the Boards of Governors of all the Colleges - has requested that a closer look be taken at this issue.

Plan officials are always looking for enhancements to our governance processes, and will be carefully considering the implications, costs, privacy concerns, and other logistics of setting up such a body.