A group of six Canadian corporations has banded together in the hopes of receiving pension assistance from the Canadian government. But the federal Conservatives aren’t answering the call, reports Reuters.
The group—which consists of Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, Bell Canada, MTS Allstream, Canada Post and NAV Canada, and is branding itself the “G6”—is requesting legislated measures such as more time to pay down deficits within their DB plans.
In the U.S., President Barack Obama recently signed a bill that allows struggling companies to contribute less to their pension plans. But Ottawa says it has no plans to follow suit.
“[T]hese are pension funds that need to be worked out between the employers and their employees,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told Reuters. “It’s a private matter, except that there’s a legislative vehicle in place, if they want to follow the distressed pension plan model. There’s a way of proceeding.”
Flaherty was referring to the reforms introduced in 2010 that brought relaxed funding requirements to struggling plans. But many companies, such as those in the G6, say its not enough.