Ontario agrees to review OMERS pension transfer in 2012

Separate bill will be introduced by McGuinty Liberals this spring

Toronto (23 Feb. 2006) - The Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty has agreed to a review of Bill 206 in 2012 but it will not withdraw the legislation, which transfers control of the $40-billion Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) to municipalities.

Expected to pass this week, Bill 206 stipulates that future changes to the plan must be approved by a two-thirds majority. Because management and employees are represented equally on the committee that approves such changes, it will make a consensus more difficult to achieve.

The bill also stipulates that police, firefighters and, in some cases, paramedics, will be able to retire earlier than other employees with full benefits.

A separate bill to authorize the review in 2012, and to ensure that OMERS is operating fairly, is now scheduled to be introduced by June.

The agreement to hold a review averted a province-wide job action that had been planned by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). NUPGE