The legislation across Canada protects accrued rights. When he's looking at liabilities for somebody who is actively employed and they look at 30 years, they say they'll pay your pension at age 60 if you have 30 years of service. Of course, if they change that promise and say they'll pay you your pension at 65 instead of 60, it would cost a lot less, probably half the amount. But you can't touch it. It's an accrued right.
If you change the rule for the future and say that from now on their extra credit is going to be paid at 65 instead of 60, the costs will go way down, but like he said, it's part of the bargaining process. If they say they'll cut the pension next year, it can be viewed by the unions as a cut in their salary or compensation, so they're going to bargain for something else.
So yes, the retirement age is the number one...well, one of the very, very key considerations in the cost of a plan.