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Province Gives Control Of Pension Plan To Members

March 1, 2006

Ontario - Queens Park: The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is now controlled by its members, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Gerretsen said today.

“We have honoured our commitment to come up with a model for OMERS that achieves the right balance,” said Gerretsen. “This act puts first the interests of those who pay into the pension plan and rely on it for their livelihood upon retirement.”

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System Act, 2006 is now law and gives the more than 355,000 working and retired Ontarians who pay into and benefit from the plan, and their employers, control over their pensions. Previously, the province controlled the pension plan even though it does not pay directly into it or benefit from it.

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The competing demands of everyone involved were considered as a new model for OMERS was developed. The government took the unusual step of requesting legislative committee hearings at both first and second readings to ensure all groups representing plan participants had input into the final legislation.

The new model requires the creation of supplemental benefits plans for police, firefighters and paramedics, and enables it for other employee groups. The act also explicitly protects the main OMERS pension plan that thousands of Ontarians rely on for their livelihood from any costs resulting from supplemental benefits plans.

The government is proposing legislation mandating a review of the new OMERS governance model by 2012. The review would focus on the fairness, accountability and efficiency of the Sponsors Corporation.

To keep the costs associated with the supplemental benefits plan reasonable for employees and employers, the legislation states that only one supplemental benefit can be negotiated every three years. As well, the act does not change the pensions currently being received by retirees.

“We are confident the new OMERS model will prove to be solid public policy,” added Gerretsen.

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Email: editor@thehaltonherald.ca

Mail: The Halton Herald.ca, P.O. Box 76, Acton, ON. L7J 2M2.

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