Thursday, February 12, 2009
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EST
Playback: Tuesday, February 17, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST

Matthew Certosimo

Employer Counsel
Borden Ladner Gervais

Anne Gregory

Union Counsel
Canadian Union of Public Employees

Murray Gold

Pension Counsel
Koskie Minsky

Scott Sweatman

Employer Counsel
Blake, Cassels & Graydon

ISSUES:

Many Canadian workers are reaching retirement at a time when pension plan values have been decimated by a downturn in the global financial market. As a result, the rules of the game have changed. In this special session, we will discuss the effect of the economic slowdown, including tightened credit markets, on the value of pension portfolios and the funding of pension plans, and examine the solutions proposed by government, employers and unions. Our panel of experts will also review court and arbitration decisions, as well as proposed legislation, dealing with the issue of pension preservation in difficult economic times. Topics will include:

• What is the effect on the pension plan and employees' pension entitlements if the employer is in financial difficulty, shuts down operations or lays off employees?
• What does the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions recommend in its October 2008 report? What proposals are made by the B.C.-Alberta Joint Expert Panel on Pension Standards in its November 2008 report?
• How can the portability of pension plans be enhanced? How can plans stay alive and continue to pay out benefits?
• How do demographic factors such as immigration, emigration, job mobility, movement of the population within Canada, and the aging population impact on pension plans?
• In what circumstances can employers make changes to an existing pension plan? Can employers unilaterally change pension plans from defined benefit to defined contribution? Can they eliminate indexing?
• What kinds of relief have federal and provincial governments proposed or instituted? Are they enough? What are the advantages and disadvantages of measures proposed by others, such as asset smoothing and changing the discount rate?
• What conditions should be included in government reforms in order to address the broader economic issues (e.g., priority of pension plans under bankruptcy legislation, pension insurance schemes, letters of credit to secure solvency payments, joint union-management funds, etc.)?
• What should employers do in labour-management negotiations to mitigate funding shortfalls? What can unions who are currently bargaining do to protect pension plan benefits? What can employer and employee trustees on pension plan boards do to ameliorate the economy's effect on the plans?

$195, plus GST (Registrations must be paid in advance of the audio conference). Registration costs are per listening site/telephone, so you can have any number of people listening at your location for one low price. Click here for registration information.