Liberals Must Act to Protect Employee Pensions: Sweet

Liberals Must Act to Protect Employee Pensions: Sweet

November 23, 2017, Ottawa, Ontario – In the wake of the Sears and US Steel bankruptcies, which have put thousands of employee pensions at risk, southern Ontario Member of Parliament David Sweet is calling on Justin Trudeau’s Liberal MPs to review the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and the Investment Canada Act. He issued the following statement:

“Too many Canadians have lost their dream of a dignified retirement after working hard for thirty, forty, sometimes, fifty years. After the collapse of Nortel, Stelco/US Steel and now Sears, it is time for Parliament to act and support workers and their families.

“Parliamentarians need to be clearly informed about all legislation that impacts employee pensions and understand how pensions are not guarded from mismanagement and underfunding.

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“Based on my experience as Chair of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in the last two Parliaments, I believe that parliamentary committees are best suited to examine important government legislation because these committees compel all stakeholders to publicly defend why legislation should or should not be modernized.

“Pensioners have raised serious concerns about the process that puts investors ahead of pensioners in bankruptcy proceedings. As a result of changes made by the previous Conservative government, a company is obligated to pay its pension obligations when it seeks company creditor protection, but there are still things we could do to improve the legislation. I call on all parties to cooperate to find solutions.”