Pension Coalition NB

Nov 14  Moncton Times and Transcript E-Edition Article

To The Editor : The following is an open letter to Finance Minister Blaine Higgs.

I received your letter on Nov. 4, about the change you made to reform my pension.

March 1, 2013

Hon. David Alward Premier of New Brunswick Centennial Building PO Box 6000 Fredericton, N.B.  E3B 5H1   Dear Sir:

I am writing on behalf of the Pension Coalition NB/Pension Coalition N.-B., an unincorporated association of New Brunswick public service pensioners and their spouses, to express our concerns about your announced intention to convert current public service pensions to what you have referred to as the ‘shared risk” model. We regret having to resort to correspondence, but we have not been consulted in relation to this major change, and we want to ensure that you are fully aware of our concerns and of the implications of what you are seemingly proposing to do.

March 20, 2013 

Hon. David Alward

Premier of New Brunswick

CentennialBuilding

PO Box 6000

Fredericton, NB  E3B 5H1

Dear Mr. Premier:

I note with some dismay that we have not received a reply or even the courtesy of an acknowledgement of my letter of March 1, 2013.  You have publicly stated that “one size does not fit all” in terms of pension plans, yet you appear to us to be intent on imposing some form of shared risk plan on public servants without any shred of meaningful consultation and without even ensuring that the Province’s interests will truly be served by such measure.

Hi Brian:
 
First of all, thank you very much for having Mark Gaudet contact me as a follow-up to our meeting.  He provided an interesting perspective and I appreciated his time.  As requested, I am now updating you on my views.