Canada’s largest union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, is shocked and outraged at reports that the Liberal Party will revive its attack on good pensions if re-elected.
In the last Parliament, Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled Bill C-27, which would allow employers to walk away from their pension promises to workers and retirees, and convert good, dependable “defined benefit” pension plans into risky, unreliable “target benefit” plans.
The bill was shelved in 2017, amidst revelations that Morneau Shepell, a human resources firm in which Morneau himself owned $43 million worth of shares, stood to benefit significantly if Bill C-27 was passed.
Morneau’s conflict of interest scandals effectively put the bill to rest for the remainder of the last Parliament.
However, according to a report, the Liberal Party candidate for the riding of Hamilton Mountain told an all-candidates meeting on October 8 that a re-elected Liberal government would bring the bill back.
“Bill C-27 was a shameful assault on the rights of Canadian workers to a decent retirement. We’ve fought this kind of disgraceful, regressive legislation before and we’ll do it again if we have to,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock.
“The NDP is the only party that will fight for workers. On Monday, we need to elect as many New Democrats as we can across Canada to stop these kinds of attacks on working people by any government – Liberal or Conservative.”
Read more: Bill C-27 is in the news - but what does it actually do?