N.B. gov't retirees considering legal action over pension model

Thousands of New Brunswick government retirees are in the process of deciding whether to launch legal action against their former employer.

They are angry with the provincial government’s shift to a shared-risk pension model, saying it breaks a long-standing deal between employer and employee.

Debbie McCormack retired three years ago from her job as a public health nurse. Today, she told more than 400 other government retirees that their pensions are at risk.

“Now all of a sudden, I get a letter and they tell me, “ah oh, something has happened,’ and to me, a deal is a deal, their word was their contract,” says McCormack.

Besides the shared-risk pension model, the retirees are especially vexed by the loss of guaranteed indexation.

“We only want what we deserve to get,” says government retiree Glen Wilson. “It is very simple. We were required to pay into a pension fund, which we did. We gave our time and effort to the government.”

“These are deferred earnings from when we worked, whether it was for 25, 30, or 35 years,” says Clifford Kennedy.

Earlier this year, the government said the pension plan was a billion dollars in the hole and that shortfall is projected to get worse.

The government says it has an obligation to protect the long-term viability of the plan, for both current and future retirees.

New Brunswick Finance Minister Blaine Higgs told CTV News that change has to happen and the alternative will be to download the pension costs on to current employees and taxpayers.

Meanwhile, the retirees are getting ready for what might be legal action against the provincial government.

New Brunswick Liberal Leader Brian Gallant says the government should ask a judge about the shared-risk model.

“We think it’s incredibly important to have a judicial review done of this. We don’t know if this is legally possible,” says Gallant.

A provincewide vote will take place among retirees to decide whether to go to court. In that event, legal costs would be a minimum of $100,000.

Results of the vote are expected late next week.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron