Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you today.
I'm here to bring to the committee's attention an issue that affects veterans who have transitioned to a second career in the public service; that includes me. We've also submitted a written brief to the committee with detailed background information on this issue. It's still in translation, but you should get it soon.
In 2013, the public service pension plan was modified so that new employees would be required to wait an additional five years before retiring with a full pension, while existing employees were grandfathered under the old rules. However, at the time of this change, no allowance was made to similarly grandfather veterans who transfer military or RCMP service to the plan as part of their transition. As a result, these veterans will be forced to wait five years longer to retire than their peers in the public service with the same period of service. Currently there are more than 100 veterans in this situation, including me, and this total could grow to as many as 500 in the years ahead.
When I transitioned from the army to the public service in 2014, I transferred my 15 years of pensionable military service to the public service pension plan. However under the current rules, I'm considered to be a new employee and am therefore faced with a later retirement age. In my case this will be at age 60, after more than 42 years of service. However, if I were to be grandfathered under the old rules, I would instead be able to retire at age 55 after 37 years of service. If you're trying to do the math, yes, I started when I was 17.
Unlike many of the issues the committee has heard about as part of this study, this one is completely and exclusively within the authority of Parliament to solve. All that is required is a simple amendment to the Public Service Superannuation Act, which is already before the House of Commons in the form of a private member's bill, Bill, introduced by MP Alupa Clarke. I believe this is a simple issue of fairness for veterans and one that can be easily rectified.
My hope is that the committee will include as part of its report a recommendation that the House of Commons pass Bill C-357 to address this issue or that the Government of Canada incorporate the required amendment into appropriate legislation.
Thank you for undertaking this important study. I look forward to your questions.