Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Legislature
This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.
It is not the official version. If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.
Bill 48
THE CITY OF WINNIPEG AMENDMENT (PENSIONS) ACT
| Explanatory Note |
(Assented to )
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
The City of Winnipeg Act is amended by this Act.
Subsection 74(1) is replaced with the following:
The city may pass by-laws for establishing, maintaining and regulating a pension plan and group insurance plan for officers and employees of the city who are not participating in the employee benefits program referred to in section 79.1 and may, in addition to all other rates and assessments for city purposes, levy and assess in every year a special rate sufficient to furnish the amount required during the year to establish and maintain the funds for the plans established by by-law under this section or included in the employee benefits program, and may guarantee the solvency of the plans.
Subsection 75(7) is replaced with the following:
Combination of funds for investment
A benefit board may combine any funds that it administers with the funds administered by another benefit board or, if the board of trustees managing the employee benefits program referred to in section 79.1 wishes to participate, with the funds administered by that board of trustees, if
(a) council by by-law authorizes the combination of such funds;
(b) the manner of the investment of the combined funds is authorized by each benefit board and, if it participates, the board of trustees;
(c) accounts are kept to show the share of each benefit board and of the board of trustees, if it participates, in the combined fund.
Subsection (4) does not apply to a benefit board that combines the funds it administers with the funds administered by the board of trustees referred to in subsection (7).
Sections 77 and 78 are repealed.
The following is added after section 79 and before the centered heading "RECORDS MANAGEMENT":
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM
In this section and section 79.2,
"amended and restated employee benefits program" means the employee benefits program, as proposed to be amended and continued under the agreements to be entered into pursuant to the amending agreement, with such changes, if any, as are approved by the court under clause (5)(c); (« régime d'avantages sociaux modifié et révisé »)
"amended and restated pension plan" means the pension trust agreement, and any related document setting out the terms of the plan administered under that agreement, that governs the pension plan to be continued as part of the amended and restated employee benefits program; (« régime de pension modifié et révisé »)
"amending agreement" means the Letter of Understanding, ratified by the city on November 22, 2000, between the city and the collective bargaining agents regarding proposed changes to the employee benefits program; (« accord modificatif »)
"class of members" means one of the following classes of members:
(a) members who are employees represented by a participating union,
(b) members who are employees not represented by a participating union,
(c) members not described in clause (a) or (b); (« catégorie de participants »)
"commission" means The Pension Commission of Manitoba under The Pension Benefits Act; (« Commission »)
"employee benefits program" means the pension plan, the long-term disability plan and the early retirement benefits arrangement that were provided for by by-law when this section came into force; (« régime d'avantages sociaux »)
"member" means a member of the pension plan that forms part of the employee benefits program, and includes
(a) a former member who is entitled to a deferred benefit under the plan, and
(b) a pensioner who, or a member's beneficiary who, has an absolute entitlement to benefits under the plan; (« participant »)
"participating union" means a collective bargaining agent that is a party to the amending agreement; (« syndicat participant »)
"superintendent" means the Superintendent of Pensions appointed under The Pension Benefits Act. (« surintendant »)
Implementation of amending agreement
The parties to the amending agreement may implement the agreement only with the approval of the court under clause (5)(c).
Application for court approval
The parties to the amending agreement may apply to the Court of Queen's Bench for an order approving the implementation of that agreement.
Non-application of Trustee Act
Section 59 of The Trustee Act does not apply to any variation of a trust that is required to implement the amending agreement as approved by the court under clause (5)(c).
In connection with an application under subsection (3), the court may make any interim or final order it thinks fit, including, without limitation,
(a) an order respecting the notice to be given to members and to the superintendent;
(b) an order appointing counsel to represent the interests of any class of members;
(c) if the court is satisfied that the amendments to be made to the employee benefits program are justifiable and beneficial for each class of members as a whole, an order approving
(i) the implementation of the amending agreement, and
(ii) any variation of a trust that is necessary to implement the amending agreement,
as proposed or with any changes approved by the court;
(d) an order fixing costs relating to the court application that are to be paid out of the pension fund.
Effect of implementation with court approval
If the parties to the amending agreement implement the agreement as approved by an order made under clause (5)(c),
(a) the existing pension plan, long term disability plan and early retirement benefits arrangement comprising the employee benefits program are amended and continued under the terms of the amended and restated employee benefits program;
(b) the amended and restated employee benefits program applies to and is binding on the members and all other former employees, and every ascertained or unascertained beneficiary of a member or other former employee, except that the amended and restated pension plan does not apply to those who, as a class, exclude themselves from it under subsection 26.1(3) of The Pension Benefits Act;
(c) subsection 26(5) of The Pension Benefits Act does not apply to the amending agreement or the amended and restated pension plan; and
(d) for the purposes of clause 26(2.1)(a) and subsection 26(2.2) of The Pension Benefits Act, the commission may consider the terms of the amended and restated pension plan as at the effective date of its implementation to be the terms that governed the pension plan as at that date.
Designation as a multi-unit pension plan
Despite subsection 26.1(2) of The Pension Benefits Act, when the superintendent is satisfied that
(a) the pension plan has been amended and restated as approved by the court under clause (5)(c);
(b) the provisions of the amended and restated pension plan meet the requirements of subsection 26.1(11) of The Pension Benefits Act; and
(c) members have been given the opportunity under subsection 26.1(3) of The Pension Benefits Act to exclude themselves from the amended and restated pension plan;
the superintendent shall designate the amended and restated pension plan as a multi-unit pension plan under The Pension Benefits Act.
Subject to subsection (7), nothing in this section or in an order made under subsection (5) shall have the effect of limiting the power of the superintendent or the commission to ensure that the amended and restated pension plan complies with the provisions of The Pension Benefits Act that apply to it.
Payments to city to pay other employee benefits
Despite subsection 26(2) of The Pension Benefits Act, the commission's consent is not required for payments of surplus out of the pension plan to the city under the terms of the amended and restated pension plan if those payments
(a) are not more than the maximum payable to the city under subsection 26(2.3) of The Pension Benefits Act; and
(b) are not more than the amounts required by the city to fund benefits under the long term disability plan and the early retirement benefits arrangement continued under the amended and restated employee benefits program.
This Act, except sections 2 to 4, comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.
Sections 2 to 4 come into force on a day fixed by proclamation.