Legal Update - Pension Surplus Litigation Update

The plaintiffs, who together represent more than 300,000 members, commenced legal proceedings against the Attorney General of Canada in 1999, following passage of Bill C-78, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act, that enabled the federal government to appropriate some $30.2 billion from the public service, RCMP and Canadian Forces pension funds.

In January 2008, the Institute, along with other federal bargaining agents, employees’ and retirees’ associations filed a Notice to Appeal the November 2007 judgment of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissing the action.

The issues involved in this legal challenge are complex, and, therefore, legal preparations for proceeding with the case to the Ontario Court of Appeal have been lengthy. The trial transcripts were received on March 27, 2009. Since then, legal counsel have been working diligently on the preparation of the factum containing the legal arguments for the case. The plaintiffs must file their factum and corresponding exhibit book with the court by June 23, 2009. The respondents will then have 30 days from that date to file their own factum and exhibit book.

Hearing dates for the appeal have not yet been established by the court, but it is anticipated that the hearing may be held late in 2009.

As always, and particularly so in this case, given the significance of this issue to Institute members, it is important that the best possible legal arguments be put forward in an effort to overturn the decision at the appellate level.

The Institute is committed to pursuing this objective and will keep the membership informed of any developments of significance through postings to www.pipsc.ca.