BILL 20

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 100.2 of the Pension Benefits Act, chapter P-5.1 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 1987, is amended

(a)  by repealing the definition “base benefit” and substituting the following:

“base benefit” means the total amount of all benefits paid or payable, including all vested base benefits as at the relevant date and all vested ancillary benefits as at the relevant date. (prestation de base)

(b)  by adding the following definition in alphabetical order:

“vested base benefit” means a benefit other than an ancillary benefit for which a member or a former member is receiving a pension or for which a member would have received a pension if he or she had retired at the relevant date, including base benefits that arise as a result of the conversion of a pension plan to a shared risk plan as of the conversion date. ( prestation de base dévolue)

2 Section 100.52 of the Act is amended

(a)  in subsection (1) by striking out “A conversion” and substituting “Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund, a conversion”;

(b)  in subsection (2) by striking out “Despite section 12” and substituting “Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund”;

(c)  in subsection (3) by striking out “Despite section 12” and substituting “Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund”;

(d)  by adding after subsection (3) the following:

100.52(3.1) Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund, a pension plan may be amended for the purpose of converting the pension plan to a shared risk plan, including converting pension benefits to base benefits as of the conversion date and reducing accrued or vested pension benefits as of the conversion date.

100.52(3.2) Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund, a conversion of a pension plan to a shared risk plan is not void if the pension benefits under the pension plan are converted to base benefits as of the conversion date, if accrued or vested pension benefits are reduced as of the conversion date and if the base benefits are reduced after the conversion date.

(e)  in subsection (4) by adding “and despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund” after “On the conversion date”.

3 Section 100.53 of the Act is amended in the portion preceding paragraph (a) by striking out “Despite section 12” and substituting “Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund”.

4 Section 100.81 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:

Immunity

100.81(1) The Crown in right of the Province, the Minister, a person designated to act on behalf of the Minister, the Superintendent or an administrator or any of their officers, directors, employees or members is not liable under this Act or the regulations if the Minister, person designated to act on behalf of the Minister, Superintendent or administrator or any of their officers, directors, employees or members exercised the care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in comparable circumstances, including reliance in good faith on a report of a person whose profession lends credibility to a statement made by that person.

100.81(2) Despite section 12, the Municipalities Act and the regulations under that Act and any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund, no cause of action, claim or demand arises and no action for damages or other proceeding shall be instituted against the Crown in right of the Province, the Minister, a person designated to act on behalf of the Minister, the Superintendent, an administrator, a trustee, a board of trustees, an employer, a trade union that represents the members, an employee organization that is the bargaining agent of the members or any other person, board or committee with the right to amend a pension plan or any of their officers, directors, employees, members, agents or advisors in relation to

(a)  a breach of any contract or trust, including a document that creates or supports a pension plan or pension fund, with respect to any matter referred to in subsections 100.52(1) to (4), or

(b)  a breach of any legal duty or obligation with respect to any matter referred to in subsections 100.52(1) to (4).

5 The Act is amended by adding after section 100.81 the following:

The City of Saint John pension plan

100.82(1) Despite the repeal of the City of Saint John Pension Act, the council of The City of Saint John has the power to amend by resolution the pension plan established by that Act for the purpose of converting the pension plan to a shared risk plan, including amending the governance structure of the pension plan for that purpose.

100.82(2) A resolution referred to in subsection (1) may be made retroactive to July 1, 2012, or to any date after July 1, 2012.

100.82(3) Subsection 100.81(2) applies with the necessary modifications to the council.

6 This Act shall be deemed to have come into force on July 1, 2012.