Many public servants no longer trust the Alberta government, nor government owned and operated AIMCo to manage their pension funds. A large number of public servants are choosing to have the commuted value of their pensions paid out and divorce themselves from any reliance on the government regarding their pensions. Bill 22 slashed that pension payout by more than 30% and forever changed how public servants are able to manage the money in their pensions apart from government oversight and AIMCo mismanagement.
Now, more than two years after Bill 22 became law, Alberta public servants are gaining a much clearer picture of the significance of this Bill becoming law. We now know that the decrease to the employee pension fund available to be paid out to public servants leaving government and under the age of 55 is anywhere between 20-35%. Pension holders can easily estimate how much the UCP Government quietly stole from their pensions by taking their estimated annual pension as it stands for them today and multiply that amount by (low) 5, or (high) 7.5.
For example: a public servant with an annual pension estimated at $26,000 had approximately $130,000 – $190,000 stolen from their pension by the UCP on April 1, 2020.
The theft is an unparalleled betrayal directed at Alberta public servants. Apart from posting limited, vague and confusing information on pension plan websites, during a worldwide pandemic a few weeks before becoming law, this government did nothing to inform impacted public servants. Understandably, most pandemic-preoccupied public servants had no idea of the breach of trust this government was capable of, although today most have a far better understanding of the deceitful capacity and shadow dealings of this UCP government.
Although the Alberta government should repeal all the legislation amendments triggered when Bill 22 became law, any lawsuit launched in the future (subject to legal representation advice/direction) will be specific to the amendments in Bill 22 that allowed the government to steal pension funds from Alberta Public Servants. If your pension is with the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP), the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP), the Management Employee’s Pension Plan (MEPP), the Special Forces Pension Plan (SFPP) – You Have Been Adversely Affected!
One can question why, but it is well known that the Kenney government has been slashing public sector jobs for three years, and plans to keep slashing public sector jobs. When a public servant loses their job, they are provided options as to what they can do with their pension funds. Although there are a number of options available, the two primary options are that they can leave the funds in place under the management of the UCP government controlled AIMCo, or they can take payout of the ‘commuted value’ of their pension and manage the funds apart from AIMCo. Slashing thousands of jobs, offering 20-35% less of a payout to public sector employees the government just fired, is reprehensible!