AFP/AAC Newsletter #28 - Bilingual/Bilingue

Armed Forces Pensioners’ / Annuitants’ Association of Canada Issue #28 • November 2017 2 A FP/AAC is continuing to work with federal legislators and allied advocacy groups in order to ensure fair treatment for veterans who have transferred their pensionable service to the federal public service. Under the current system, vet- erans who transfer their military service to the public service pension plan are treated as new employees in the plan, and are therefore faced with a 5-year longer wait for retire- ment. This is as a result of new rules introduced in Budget 2012, which increased the retirement age for new employees in public service from 60 to 65. AFP/AAC is lobbying to have the governing legislation amended to ensure that eligible veterans are grandfathered under the old rules, in light of their prior service. Since the last update on this issue in fall 2016, significant advances have been made. Most notably, Conservative Member of Parlia- ment Alupa Clarke has introduced a private member’s bill specifically to address the issue. Bill C-357, An Act to amend the Public Service Super- annuation Act (Group 1 contribu- tors), was introduced by Mr. Clarke in the House of Commons on June 5th, 2017. In introducing the bill, Mr. Clarke said, “When a veteran who fought for our country for many years brought the issue to my attention, I did not hesitate to move forward. For a year, I prepared ev- erything I needed to and today I am very pleased to introduce this bill.” In November, AFP/AAC also brought this issue forward at the annual general meeting of the National Council of Veteran As- sociations (NVCA). The issue achieved unanimous support from the council’s member associations, and is now included as part of NC- VA’s legislative program. Similarly, formal resolutions to advocate for this issue were adopted in recent months by both the National Asso- ciation of Federal Retirees (NAFR) and the Union of National Defence Employees (UNDE). UNDE has also proposed a resolution on this issue to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which will be voted on at the alliance’s triennial convention in April 2018. With draft legislation now before Parliament and the support of key advocacy allies secured, we are well positioned to further advance this issue. Over the coming months, AFP/AAC will continue to work with Mr. Clarke and other interest- ed parties to ensure that the ser- vice of veterans who transfer their pensions to the public service plan is properly recognized. Bill C-357 The Pensioners’ Dental Services Plan is a voluntary dental services plan established by the Government of Canada to provide dental services coverage to eligible federal pensioners and their eligible family members, including survivors. The plan is reviewed on a regular basis and premiums are adjusted as appropriate. The new rates, effective October 1, 2017 are: • For Category I, which provides coverage to just the pensioner, the rate has increased from $16.00 per month to $17.46. • For Category II, the pensioner and one eligible family member, the monthly rate has increased from $31.96 to $36.85. • Category III, the pensioner and more than one eli- gible family member, has actually decreased, from $47.96 per month to $44.38. The new rates were reflected on your September 2017 pension deposit/cheque. Note that contribution rates for dependents of veterans with coverage under the Veterans Affairs Canada Dental Services Program have also changed; please contact your local VAC office for more information. Changes to PDSP rates came into effect October 1, 2017 Public Service Pensions for Veterans Notice of the 2017 Annual General Meeting The AFP/AAC Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednes- day December 6th, 2017 at 3:45 PM EDT by teleconference call. For those members wishing to participate, please contact us by calling 1-613-432-9491 or email us at admin@afpaac.ca to receive the call-in information. There will be no costs incurred for members to call-in. A motion to approve the 2016 audit will be made at the AGM. The audit was conduct- ed by Nephin Winter Bingley and subsequent draft financial statements were provided to the board. The auditor reported that, “In our opinion, these financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the balance sheet of Armed Forces pen- sioner’/Annuitants’ Association of Canada as at December 31, 2016 and its results of operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles for not- for-profit organizations.” The financial statements are available to members upon request.