Controversial Ontario Pension Reform Passes

It took just two minutes to pass pension reform legislation so controversial the province was nearly plunged into an illegal strike by municipal employees over it.

During those two minutes, Bruce Miller, seated in the Legislature's public gallery, tapped his fingers and Fred Le Blanc alternated between smiling and biting his lip.

"I couldn't be more pleased. It's fantastic," said Miller, chief administrative officer for the Police Association of Ontario.

Bill 206, an act to revise the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), passed easily yesterday with 51 Liberals voting for it and 23 opposition MPPs voting against it.

On Wednesday, the government averted a province-wide strike by 100,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) by agreeing to an independent review of the legislation by 2012.

For police, firefighters and paramedics, the passing of Bill 206 means the chance to negotiate pension improvements, such as earlier retirement with full benefits.

For Miller, it's the end to 10 years of work. "I'm just so glad it's finally over," he said.

Now that the fight is over, Le Blanc, president of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association, said he hopes people will "get a better understanding of Bill 206 and a better comfort level with it."

Bill 206 puts municipalities and employees in charge of their $40-billion pension plan.

The controversy is over amendments giving police, firefighters and paramedics supplemental plans allowing them to retire earlier with full benefits, while at the same time requiring a hard-to-achieve two-thirds majority vote to make pension improvements for everyone else.

Le Blanc and Miller say it's good for the public if emergency workers can retire early.

"Obviously, there is a concern with having older police officers on the street. We need to constantly rejuvenate our police services with young people who have the ability to perform what is becoming an increasingly dangerous job," Miller said.

Two years from now, police and firefighters can start to negotiate pension enhancements, including: an increase in the accrual rate, reduction in the age-plus-years-of-work factor to 80 for police and firefighters and to 85 for paramedics, and pensions based on the last three or four years of salary instead of five.

OMERS members who are not entitled to these enhancements according to the legislation won't have to pay for them.

But taxpayers will.

Emergency workers will pay half of any increase they negotiate with municipalities and property taxpayers will pay the other half.

The government says the costs will be minimal because pension increases will be offset by lower pay increases. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) doesn't believe that and says the enhanced pension options will result in property tax hikes.

Police are most interested in getting the "80 factor," which would cost $364 per person, per year, Miller said. "It's very affordable and very effective in terms of getting older officers off the street and allowing them to retire with dignity," he said.

But the AMO disagrees.

"The province has created a ticking download that will cost Ontario property taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over time," AMO president Roger Anderson said.

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