Press Release

Hi:This is the press release that has just been sent out to papers across Ontario.. We also need Your support please sign the petition and write your MPP'S and the leaders etc. that are listed in the document below.We have to let the Government know that we wont stand for the slap in the face that the government did to every Ontario Citizen by insulting us with a 25% unlock while the Government of Saskatchewan unlocked 100% for their citizens. Thank You for any support Bill Costello

a Concerned citizen.

For Immediate Release

CARP’s 100% SOLUTION UNLOCKING LOCKED-IN FUNDS IN ONTARIO FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Toronto, Ontario March 23, 2007 – Ontario’s 2007 budget opened the door to unlocking Locked-In Funds (LIFs) by giving Ontarians the right of a one-time unlocking of up to 25% of locked-in funds no earlier than age 55 – but much more can and must be done. The many hundreds of thousands of Ontario LIF holders will accept no less!

CARP proposes that 50% of the principal in a LIF should be unlockable starting at age 55. With an additional 50% unlockable at age 65 – for a total of 100% for all Ontario LIF holders. The unlocked funds would be transferred into a RRIF.

Unlocking LIFs 100% is consistent with what was done in Saskatchewan five years ago and with what has been advanced in NDP MPP Andrea Horwath’s private member’s Bill 175.

A precedent was set in Ontario in 1999 by Bill 27 which allowed 61 MPPs to unlock 100% of their LIFs. It is absolutely unjust that this select group should enjoy a privilege that is denied to the multitude of other Ontario citizens with LIFs – and will continue to be denied if the Government’s discriminatory proposal is adopted. In fact, PC MPP Bob Runciman publicly endorsed Bill 175 because, as one of the select 61, he believes that all Ontarians with LIFs should have the same rights as he has.

In a recent article in the National Post, one of Canada’s leading tax experts, University of Toronto Professor Jack Mintz, stated, "workers who change jobs [or retire] get hobbled with inflexible locked-in accounts. It’s time to end this nanny-state paternalism."

Not only is the Government’s paternalism outdated, but so is its bureaucratic procedure whereby people have to fill out a 23-page application form to beg for access to their LIF principal and only if they can satisfactorily prove dire health or financial crises. If successful, they pay $200 to $600 to the Government for the favour.

Indeed, unlocking LIFs 100% will not cost the Ontario Government a single penny since LIFs are not government money. Rather it will save the government money by eliminating the need for bureaucrats to judge the LIF application forms – although this may be slightly offset by the loss of its bonus from successful applicants. However, it will raise more funds for the government through increased taxes from withdrawals as well as from sales taxes through increased consumption which, in turn, will stimulate Ontario’s economy. And, of course, CARP’s proposed policy will go a long way in enhancing the quality of life, well-being and self-respect of Ontario LIF holders.

LIF holders should express their support for CARP’s 100% solution to Premier McGuinty, Minister of Finance Greg Sobara, their local MPP and Opposition Leaders John Tory and Howard Hampton by going to www.carp.ca to use the
e-voice email system or by phone or mail.

CARP is Canada’s Association for the Fifty-Plus. A non-profit, non-partisan national organization with 400,000 members across the country, CARP’s mandate is to promote and protect the rights and quality of life for older Canadians. Its mission is to develop practical recommendations for the issues raised. CARP for the 50Plus Magazine is read by close to 1 million Canadians. The CARP websites receive 250,000 unique visits per month.

Contact:
Michelle Taylor
416 363-8748 ext. 236
m.taylor@50plus.com
www.carp.ca

NOTES:
The exact wording of the sentence in the 2007 Ontario Budget is: " the right to an optional one-time unlocking of up to 25% of locked-in funds no earlier than the early-retirement date under the pension plan from which the money was transferred (in most cases, this is age 55)."

In Ontario, when a pension plan is terminated or a person leaves a pension plan, the assets that the person has accumulated in the plan must be transferred to Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA). The funds in a LIRA cannot be removed. However, once the qualifying age is reached, being either the earlier of the normal retirement date from which the funds originated or 55, those funds can then be transferred to a Locked-In Fund/Life Income Fund (LIF) or a Locked-In Retirement Income Fund [LRIF]) from which funds can be withdrawn annually in percentages mandated by provincial regulations for a LIF and for a LRIF.

Locked In Funds are also called Life Income Funds.