In Greek mythology, the god Apollo granted the princess Cassandra the ability to see the future. When she later rejected his advances, he cursed her so that no one would believe her prophecies. Her story segues nicely into the Canadian DC pension landscape of 2013. When pension lawyers warn about the legal risks of DC plans, we sometimes all feel like Cassandras.
The president of the Canadian Labour Congress says that the federal government is deliberately trying to sabotage federal-provincial talks aimed at improving the Canada Pension Plan.
Following the downgrade of Illinois’s debt by a second credit rating agency, governor Patrick Quinn called for a special legislative session to address the state’s nearly US$100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
Fitch has downgraded the state of Illinois’s credit rating one notch to A- after legislators were unable to pass public pension reforms last week.
In light of the Deloitte report on inappropriate Senate expenses, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is renewing its call for a new law that would take away the parliamentary pension from any politicians convicted of crimes related to abuse of their office.
The Government of Quebec has tabled a bill to create voluntary retirement savings plans in the province.
Thanks to some creative plan design, the Ontario Court of Justice has recently upheld the contractual pre-retirement locking-in provisions in a deferred profit sharing plan established by Canadian Tire for its employees.
The Government of Nova Scotia has introduced an amendment to take back pensions from members of the legislative assembly convicted of a serious indictable offence.
The 2013 Ontario budget proposes introducing pooled registered pension plans in the province.
The industry had positive things to say about the expert committee on the future of the Quebec retirement system, led by Alban D’Amours.