NRPC Newsletter Nov 2010

The NRPC has published a November newsletter on their website. You have to be a member to view it. I have copied the NRPC president's summary for your information. To see the rest of the newsletter log in to the NRPC website.

NRPC Newsletter – Oct./Nov. 2010
President’s Letter

While not necessarily visible to the members, the NRPC and its advisors have been very active during this past month, keeping true to our goal of maximizing the benefits payable to Nortel retirees and former employees from this insolvency.

Under the terms of the March 2010 Settlement Agreement eligible terminated employees were to receive payments up to $3000. With the expiration of the appeal period these payments have started to flow. The NRPC and our advisors were successful in obtaining tax-sheltered status for those people who had service prior to 1996 and were thus eligible for a retiring allowance as part of their severance payments. Preferential tax treatment for all future benefit payments is on our list for discussion with the Canada Revenue Agency.

I am happy to say that we have negotiated a replacement health plan that we can endorse to the NRPC constituency. Thank-you to NRPC board member François Meunier, the NRPC health committee and John Halls of The Segal Company who helped us navigate the insurance industry ins and outs. Further details follow in this newsletter.

We continue to pursue the Financial Sponsorship Model to allow more options for pensioners rather than a wholesale conversion to annuities by current regulations. Thanks to the action of a few pensioners on a wet September night, Premier McGuinty has agreed to take a second look at the model. The financial community has proposed some very interesting opportunities. That review is now underway. More details follow in this newsletter.

Bankruptcy Act - Bill C-501 has been written to give priority to the pension deficit in a bankruptcy. We have been urging all parties to work together to perfect the wording of this important bill to ensure it is passed into legislation. We have been invited to testify in the committee hearings. Bill S-214 sponsored by Senator Pierrette Ringuette (Liberal) also aims to protect pensioners when their company declares bankruptcy; it is also in committee and will be going into hearings at the end of November or early December. We hope to have an NRPC witness at the Senate Banking hearing on this Bill.

With the October 1st transfer of the registered pension plans to the wind-up administrator, Morneau Sobeco, we moved immediately to establish a constructive working relationship with the administrator. Our first meeting was on October 4th and we have now had four meetings with the goal to better understand the conventional wind-up process and to ensure that the best interests of all pensioners are considered. More on this later in this newsletter.

We have been very busy on multiple fronts and will continue to work on your behalf. I hope that the newsletter is useful to your understanding of current events.

Don Sproule