Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
National Finance

Issue 10 - Seventh Report of the Committee

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance has the honour to present its

SEVENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-18, An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act, to validate certain calculations and to amend other Acts, has, in obedience to its order of reference of May 28, 2009, examined the said bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Your committee has also made certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

JOSEPH A. DAY

Chair

OBSERVATIONS
to the Seventh Report of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance (Bill C-18)

During the committee's examination of this legislation, it was brought to our attention that the 6 month Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) cadet training period, which is not considered pensionable service, is an issue that requires further policy changes by the Government of Canada and the RCMP. Since 1994, cadets have not been employees of the RCMP, and as such, cannot contribute to the pension plan. In contrast, some other major Canadian police forces regard cadets as employees and thus contribute to their respective pension plans during the training period. With the passing of this legislation, this will create an inequity between RCMP cadets and some transferring police officers, as the latter will have the option to buy back prior service, including their training period, or to transfer pension credits as cadets to the RCMP.

The committee therefore calls on the Government and RCMP to undertake to consult with all stakeholders, and to consider policies that designate new cadets as employees of the RCMP and determine if full retroactivity to post-1994 graduates is possible.

The committee asks that the results of this review be reported back to this committee within 12 months.