By a 7-0 decision the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the Ontario Court of Appeals ruling that laid-off workers have a right to the immediate benefit of surplus in their companies pension plan if surplus was due to the affected employees. The issue was whether Monsanto was required to make the payment out at the time of a “ partial plan wind-up”. Monsanto argued that a member’s share of surplus if any should await a final wind-up when and if the plan was ever wound up. The employees argued for immediate distribution and won.
Does this now mean that all members of the Canada Life Pension “ Plan Partial Wind-up” group will realize an immediate benefit on completion of Wind-up? The answer is maybe. What the Courts did not seem to do was determine who is entitled to receive the surplus. Who owns the surplus is another issue that must be determined before any additional benefits or payments are made. It does however seem to force the company to defend their position if they feel the surplus belongs to them.
As announced in the last newsletter the first General Meeting has been set for October 5, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. The meeting should run between one and one and a half hours. The meeting will be held at:
25 Old York Mills Rd.
Toronto, Ont
M2P 1B5
The church is within walking distance of the York Mills Subway stop at Yonge and Wilson/York Mills. To get to the church walk one block east of Yonge on York Mills. Then turn south on Old York Mills St. and it is a very short block to the church, which is on the west side. Please mark your calendars and RSVP by September 15th if you plan to attend. We urge you try to attend if at all possible.
An agenda is currently being prepared and will be forwarded. As outlined in the previous newsletter the primary purpose of the meeting is to update everyone on all developments regarding the pension plan and to elect a slate of officers whose responsibility will be to move the process forward with Canada Life/Great West Life/Power Corp.
The following core members of the Right’s Group will stand for election:
Wib Antler
Ed Barrett
Phil Davy
Don McIntyre
Shriram Mulgund
Gary Nummelin
In addition we will be receiving other nominations. If you wish to nominate someone please send his/her name, address, phone number and e-mail address (if applicable) to clpens@trigger.net Anyone that is nominated must have been contacted and have given their approval. In addition
Nominees must be on the membership list and be a member of the Canada Life Pension Plan - either active, inactive or retired. Nominations must be received by midnight September 15th, 2004
As a result of the last newsletter membership is now over 400 and growing daily. With Monsanto ruling coming down in favour of the employees it is now more than ever imperative that we get all our ducks in order before the “partial plan wind-up” is finalized and a decision is made by the company how much if any they feel is owed to the members in the wind-up. If legal action is required we need a strong front.
With all the lay-off at Canada Life and people going in many different directions we have lost touch with a few members because of a change in e-mail address. Please remember to advise us if your e-mail address changes or you know of some other member’s address change, so no one misses out on the crucial developments now in sharp focus.
In preparation for the annual meeting a committee is currently finalizing a Constitution for the Canada Life Canadian Pension Plan Members Rights Group. It should be up on the web site early in September. It will cover the key elements including annual fees and ad hoc assessments. In order to move to the next level in dealing with the company we will require membership dues and possible special assessments. To date the group has operated on a shoestring budget but as we outlined in Newsletter 10 if we are to be successful in protecting member’s rights we will require money to do this. What the funds will be needed for will be detailed further in future newsletters.
Wib Antler
Gary Nummelin
Phil Davy
NOTE: Previous newsletters are available on our website. The Group’s website is www.trigger.net/~clpens/. If you have received this newsletter by mistake, or if you wish to be removed from the mailing list, please send an e-mail to clpens@trigger.net with the subject of “Unsubscribe”. If you have information or opinions to share with the group as a whole, send your submission to clpens@trigger.net, and we will post them online, with as little editing as possible.