Now, more than 4 years after Bill 22 became law (April 1, 2020), Alberta public servants have gained a much clearer understanding of how this bill impacted one of their pension options.
GATHERING EVIDENCE:
Based on information received through FOIP Information Requests, the government knew (before introducing the legislation) the significant impact to pension holders wishing to manage their own pensions. The UCP government knew changing how Commuted Value (CV) would be calculated per their proposed legislation, would result in a reduced CV payout of approximately 19% for employees with 5-20 years of service, and approximately 26% for employees with 20-30 years of service.
Real life examples suggest the government’s own projections were low as real life examples of impacts to employees suggest CV payout reduction rates are higher in both categories, and closer to a 30-35% reduction in pension payouts for long term employees.
HOW MUCH WAS STOLEN FROM YOU?
If you are a pension holder under the age of 55, you can easily estimate how much the UCP Government quietly stole from your pension – to get a reasonable estimate, take the value of your estimated annual pension as it stands today and multiply that amount by (low) 5, or (high) 7.5. For example: if you are a public servant with an annual pension estimated at $26,000, you had approximately $130,000-$195,000 stolen from the commuted value of your pension by the UCP on April 1, 2020.
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY WAS INTENTIONAL:
The hidden theft is beyond an affront to decency, trust and honour by those entrusted to uphold the honour of the Crown. It is a hallmark betrayal of trust toward public servants, not unlike that shown to all Albertans when the UCP rescinded Alberta’s Coal Policy! Apart from posting limited, vague and confusing information on pension plan websites (during a worldwide pandemic) a few short weeks before becoming law, this government and its agents did nothing to inform impacted public servants. To the contrary, the UCP intended (and planned) to have as short a period possible between making the decision and the decision taking effect to reduce the risk of there being “a run on the plan.” And, based on below content, there appears to be no intention to communicate the impacts of the changes to pension holders considering all of their pension options.
TBF Action Request 49475 dated Sept. 25, 2010
– The impact of the change is that CVs post implementation will be smaller than CVs pre-implementation
– The risk that an active plan member will quit their job in order to qualify for a CV transfer is expected to be very low – the member must be knowledgeable about CVs; the member must learn about the change to CVs and the implementation date; and the member must be motivated to approach APS to initiate a transfer
– The longer the period between the change being announced in the BIB (Budget Implementation Bill), and the date it takes effect, the greater is the risk of more people seeking to withdraw their CV.
BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC:
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 idea of the deceitful capacity and shadow dealings of the UCP government. At best, the UCP government failed to provide a reasonable Duty of Care for employees that are “required” to pay into a pension, at worst, the government acted and participated in Bad Faith dealings with pension holders by acting dishonestly, abusing their power, and engaging in unreasonable, ill-motivated conduct and procedural unfairness.
REPEAL BILL 22:
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), and/or the Special Forces Pension Plan (SFPP) – You Have Been Adversely Affected! For more detailed information, check out the presentation under the “Power Point” tab.
Overnight, on April Fools Day 2020, the Government of Alberta led by Jason Kenney and supported by his Cabinet and Caucus effectively orchestrated the largest theft of pension funds from Albertans in history. In November 2019 the UCP majority government passed third reading of the large Omnibus Bill 22 (that impacts 35 different pieces of legislation) after only a few days and about 10 hours of debate!! Were any public servants notified, let alone consulted on these changes? Was anyone made aware of the significant impacts to their pensions before the UCP government brought Bill 22 to the legislature to pass readings? Were any public servants advised, meaningfully and in a timely way, after Bill 22 was passed, that in order to not have their pension stolen that they had to leave government before April 1, 2020?
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THAT?
In January 2021, I found out that a former colleague of mine contacted Alberta Pensions Services Corporation (APSC) about a week before April 1, 2020. He called because he had heard rumors that something may be about to change regarding his pension payout on April 1st as a result of Bill 22. He asked the APSC employee what was happening, and what impact Bill 22 was about to have on calculating the commuted value of his pension. He not only was not provided an answer to his direct question, he was advised that it would be weeks before that information could be shared with him. During his call, he talked with two APSC employees and BOTH employees asked him the question, “How did you hear about that?” Is there any doubt that this information was being purposefully hidden from public servants?
WHY?
One can question why, but it is well known that the Kenney government has been slashing public sector jobs 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. They can leave the funds in place under the management of government controlled AIMCo, or take payout of the ‘commuted value’ of their pension and manage the funds apart from AIMCo. Slashing all those many thousands of jobs, offering 30-35% less of a payout to public sector employees this government just fired, is beyond reprehensible! But sure saves AIMCo a lot of money!
HELP!
Please help hold the UCP accountable for their actions. If you have engaged in your own battle; if you lost your job after April 1, 2020 – or are currently in danger of losing your job today (due to ‘downsizing’); if you currently have a ‘deferred pension’ (as of Dec. 31, 2018 more than 50,000 members of LAPP/PSPP/SFPP have deferred pensions); if you’ve undergone a divorce since April 1, 2020; if you have any information about your situation and dealings with APSC, the GoA, or any of the pension plan holders that can inform this lawsuit, please let me know.
If you are able to help by getting the word out about this website via Social Media – that too would be greatly appreciated.
This fight has just begun and I look forward to providing updates in the weeks and months to come on this site.