The Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders

The Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders

The Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders is composed of a number of private citizens assembled from various regions in Ontario who's sole purpose is to lobby the government to unlock all "locked-in" pensions in our province.


We are primarily arguing two issues within one campaign.


The primary issue is that of fairness and equality under one law for all Ontario citizens, regardless of vocation and void of political favouritism.
The secondary issue is that of the unjust government control of Ontarians access to their personal locked-in pension assets. Assets that were generally derived from former employers "wound-up" defined benefit plans and employers defined contribution ‘DC’ plans.


Regarding the primary issue, the current rules and regulations set out in the Pension Benefits Act are discriminatory, as they’re not equally applied to all Ontarians. The MPPs pension assets, derived from their former wound-up pension plan in 1995, fall under the jurisdiction of the MPP's Pension Act. These are two separate acts for the same type of locked-in pensions.

Discrimination, where there are currently 61 MPPs, both former and present, that through an amendment to the MPP Pensions Act, contained within Bill 27 in 1999, exempted themselves from the highly restrictive and paternalistic legislation that governs all other Ontarians LIRA's, LIF's and LRIF's.


Regarding the secondary issue, the yearly maximum withdrawal limits for those who meet the minimum age requirement (usually 55) for access to their locked-in LIF and LRIF pensions is approximately 6.5%, increasing slightly year after year, until age 90. The aforementioned 61 MPP's will have 100% unrestricted access to the same type of pension-derived locked-in assets, at age 55, as compared to the rest of all other Ontarians who will have to wait till’ age 90 to see their last penny (1/2 of 1% ever make it – Stats Can 2007)!


Having a law on the books for 61 MPP's, regardless of when and how it was contrived, and a different law for an estimated million plus other Ontarians for the exact same type of pension assets is unconscionable and a blatant double standard for an equal and fair Ontario.


Our Coalition is dead set against such inequality and obvious discrimination. Discrimination and silence since 1999 that continues to percolate within the ruling Liberal party.

We are demanding fair and equal treatment and insist on being included in this exclusive group of 61 privileged Ontarians by receiving the same 100% access to our locked-in pensions.

For the past six years, Premiere Dalton McGuinty and his ministers have continued to ignore the pleas of Ontarians begging for full access to their locked-in pensions, while specific members within their party, continue to have full 100% access to their own former locked-in pensions.


In the Liberal budget back in March of 2007, Greg Sorbara introduced a one time 25% unlocking option to hopefully appease the holders of locked-in pensions. This was an insult to all Ontarians and continues to fly in the face of democracy, and equality under the premise of equality and one law for all.


In 2002, Saskatchewan listened to the will of their people and eliminated these restrictions, granting full 100% access to all locked-in pensions through legislation that applied to all their residents, and not just their provincial politicians. Their belief was that their residents knew best how and when to use their own private pension assets.

In December of 2006, Andrea Horwath of the NDP, introduced Bill 175 to unlock all locked-in pensions in Ontario receiving verbal support in the legislature from Bob Runciman of the PCs. The Liberal party ignored this bill and instead went on to pass a bill for themselves in two weeks, that essentially granted all MPPs a 35% pay raise as well as doubling their contributions to their own RRSP’s, while seniors with locked-in pensions were ignored.

In spite of the ruling Liberal party’s refusal to further unlock pensions, the trend towards full unlocking continues in other jurisdictions as the Federal government recently granted 50% access to all of their regulated locked-in pensions in their 2008 budget. As well, other provinces have increased their access to 50% and are on track to eventually follow Saskatchewan’s lead towards 100% access thus resulting in the elimination of huge unnecessary government bureaucracy and expense.

In October of 2008, Ted Chudleigh, of the PC party, introduced another similar private members Bill 116 to unlock all locked-in pensions in Ontario. It is scheduled for second reading some time in May of 2009, unless it gets scuttled and killed by the Liberal party again.


Our goal is to create an awareness of these issues within the general public. A public with either DC type pensions, LIFs or LRIFs, who for the most part have no idea about the restrictions they will face when they qualify to withdraw their hard earned locked-in pension assets. A public who further, have no idea of the conceived legislation that was created by former and currently seated select politicians, for politicians, leaving the rest of Ontario shackled and begging for equal access to their own pension money.

As our economy withers, generally so does the value of our pensions and thus the yearly withdrawal maximum that those millions of Ontarians count on for survival. The inability of the current legislation to address the overwhelming devaluation of locked-in pension assets, which will likely be with us for a number of years, is precisely the scenario where the current legislation fails, thus creating a proportionately significant reduction in a locked-in pensioners LIF or LRIF yearly payments – in simpler terms, a substantial pay cut.


We encourage you to contact your local MPP to voice your support for Ted Chudleigh’s Bill 116 to unlock pensions 100% for ALL Ontarians and not just the select few politicians as was done in 1999. Inform your provincial member of parliament that Ontario pensioners are quite capable of managing their own money, however they determine and see fit, and to put an end to this ridiculous paternalism over private pension money that isn’t theirs. It’s simply the right thing to do for so many various and personally distinctive reasons, especially in order to keep up with these turbulent and recessionary times.

Having to continue to increasingly pay for more and more services is bad enough as it is, but to now do it with a cut to LIF and LRIF pension income because of outdated, inflexible and complicated legislation, is just plain cruelty and ignorance to the hard-working founders and contributors to our province.

Obviously it wasn’t such a bad idea to some of our elected public servants back in ‘99.


Sincerely,
Grant Fleury
Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders