23

 

First Session, 45th General Assembly

53 Elizabeth II, 2004

BILL 23

AN ACT TO AMEND THE MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY PENSIONS ACT

Received and Read the First Time

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

HONOURABLE LOYOLA SULLIVAN

Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

 

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Clause 1 of the Bill would amend section 2 of the Memorial University Pensions Act by adding a definition of "Consumer Price Index".

Clause 2 of the Bill would amend section 12 of the Act to require that both employees and the Board of Regents make equal contributions to the fund in an amount sufficient to fund current service costs and amortize the unfunded liability arising from the introduction of indexing.

Clause 3 of the Bill would add section 24.1 to the Act to provide for the annual indexing of pensions and survivor benefits based on increases to the CPI.

Clause 4 of the Bill would provide that the amendment to section 12 of the Act respecting contributions will come into force on the first day of the month following the month in which this Act comes into force.

 

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY PENSIONS ACT

Analysis

1. S.2 Amdt.
Definitions

2. S.12 Amdt.
Contributions to fund

3. S.24.1 Added
Indexing

4. Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:


RSNL1990 cM-8
as amended

1. Section 2 of the Memorial University Pensions Act is amended by adding immediately after paragraph (b.1) the following:

(b.2) "Consumer Price Index" with respect to any year, means the average for each month of that year of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada;

 

2. (1) Subsection 12(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Contributions to fund

12. (1) An employee shall contribute to the fund an amount set by directive of the Minister of Finance from time to time.

(1.1) The Minister of Finance shall by directive set the rate of contributions to be paid by employees at a level sufficient to fund one half of

(a) the current service costs of the plan as determined by the most recent actuarial valuation; and

(b) the cost of amortization over 40 years of the unfunded liability, on the coming into force of this section, arising from the cost of providing indexed benefits in relation to past service under section 24.1.

(2) Section 12 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (3) the following:

(3.1) The board shall contribute to the fund an amount equal to the contributions paid by employees under this section and any additional amounts required to be paid by an employer under the Pension Benefits Act, 1997.

 

3. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 24 the following:

Indexing

24.1 (1) On the first day of the month following the month in which this section comes into force, and on each anniversary of that day, the amount of a pension or survivor benefit being paid to a person who has reached the age of 65 shall be adjusted by multiplying

(a) the annual amount of the pension or survivor benefit;

by

(b) 60% of the ratio that the Consumer Price Index for the previous calendar year bears to the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year immediately before the previous calendar year,

but the amount of an increase shall not exceed 1.2% of the annual pension or survivor benefit.

(2) The amount of a pension or survivor benefit being paid to a person shall not decrease by reason only of an adjustment under subsection (1).

Commencement

4. Section 2 of this Act shall come into force on the first day of the month following the month in which it receives royal assent.

 

 

 

©Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer