BILL 16

An Act to Amend An Act to Amend the Pension Benefits Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of An Act to Amend the Pension Benefits Act, chapter 5 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 2008, is amended

(a)  by repealing subparagraph (a)(iv) and substituting the following:

(iv) by adding the following definitions in alphabetical order:

“common-law partner” means (conjoint de fait)

(a)  in the case of the death of a member or former member, a person who, not being married to the member or former member, was cohabiting in a conjugal relationship with the member or former member at the time of the death of the member or former member and was cohabiting in a conjugal relationship with the member or former member for a continuous period of at least two years immediately before the death of the member or former member,

(b)  in the case of the breakdown of a common-law partnership, a person who, not being married to the member or former member, was cohabiting in a conjugal relationship with the member or former member for a continuous period of at least two years immediately before the date of the breakdown of the common-law partnership, or

(c)  in any other case, a person who, not being married to a member or former member at the particular time under consideration, is cohabiting in a conjugal relationship with the member or former member at that time and who has so cohabited for a continuous period of at least two years immediately before that time;

“common-law partnership” means the relationship between a member or former member and his or her common-law partner; (union de fait)

(b)  in paragraph b) of the French version in subsection 1(2) as enacted by paragraph b) by striking out “une ordonnance, un jugement ou un arrêt” and substituting “une ordonnance ou un jugement”.

2 Section 11 of the Act is amended

(a)  by repealing subsection 44(1) of the French version as enacted by section 11 and substituting the following:

44(1) Lorsqu’un tribunal compétent rend une ordonnance ou un jugement relativement à la répartition à la rupture du mariage ou de l’union de fait de prestations en vertu d’un régime de pension, la valeur de rachat des prestations doit être déterminée conformément à la présente loi et aux règlements à la date de la rupture du mariage ou de l’union de fait et répartie conformément à l’ordonnance ou au jugement du tribunal.

(b)  in subsection 44(2) of the French version as enacted by section 11 by striking out “une ordonnance, un jugement ou un arrêt” and substituting “une ordonnance ou un jugement”;

(c)  by repealing subsection 44(9) as enacted by section 11 and substituting the following:

44(9) If a competent tribunal makes a decree, order or judgment in relation to the division of a pension under a pension plan on the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership, the commuted value of the pension, taking into account any survivor rights under the pension plan, shall be determined in accordance with this Act and the regulations as of the date of the breakdown of the marriage or common-law partnership and shall be divided in accordance with the decree, order or judgment of the tribunal.

3 Section 12 of French version of the Act is amended in section 45 as enacted by section 12 by striking out “ordonnance, un jugement, un arrêt” and substituting “ordonnance, un jugement”.