Canadian Webinar 9-1-10 Summary Part 4

Part 4 of the summary of the webinar held by Koskie Minsky / NRPC on Sept 1st 2010.

(6) Political Activity

Numerous meetings have been held between the NRPC and elected officials as well as various Ministry of Finance officials.

Rallies have been held and more are planned. The current focus in Ontario is on changing the Ontario regulations to allow a Financial Sponsorship Model approach to maintaining the pension fund and avoid winding it up.

If the regulations are changed and a FSM is approved it will apply Canada wide.

At the same time the Federal government has been pressured and will continue to be pressured to change the Canadian bankruptcy laws to provide preferred status for pension plans suffering through the bankruptcy claim process.

Demands have been put on the table to the Ontario Government to:
• Honour the PBGF top up for Ontario Service
• Not wind up the pension plan
• Establishing a FSM for all Nortel pensioners

In Quebec the NRPC have defined requirements to be met
• Change Bill 1 to accommodate the CCAA
• Change Bill 1 to accommodate the FSM

There are currently 2 bills before parliament to change the bankruptcy law to benefit pensioners. One will be reviewed in the Industry Committee and the other in the Senate Finance Committee this fall


(7) Compensation Claims Procedure

The process is being worked on by Koskie Minsky, the NRPC, the Monitor, and various advisors.

The process will include all claims of pensioners, former employees, and survivors.

Individuals do not need to file their own claims. It will be done by our legal representatives.

The process will be posted on the Monitor’s web site once approved and there will be notices and postings on other sites to ensure everyone knows and understands how this will work.

The actuarial firm Segal will be involved in the claim verification process.

Everyone will have the opportunity to review the data and correct any errors. You will be contacted directly with this information and should review it carefully and respond as quickly as possible with any discrepancies.

Once the claims have been verified the Monitor will confirm the claims

Because of the complexity of the claim process the final distribution of the estate may take years to complete. However there may be an interim distribution, but that is an unknown at this time.