Bill Casey on Question No. 143

With regard to any ongoing Transport Canada review of the possible privatization of the Marine Atlantic Inc. Crown corporation: ( a ) will there be a detailed audit undertaken to determine if any excess pension funds were spent and the current value of the plan; ( b ) were excess pension funds used to purchase the MV Leif Erickson; ( c ) were excess pension funds used to buy out union contracts; ( d ) were excess pension funds used to provide the active Marine Atlantic Inc. employees with a two year pension contributory holiday; ( e ) does the government plan to conform to term 32 (1) of the Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada and not allow any form of privatization of ferry service between North Sydney and Port aux Basques; ( f ) as to the agreement reached in 1998 between Marine Atlantic Inc. and union representatives, which grants employees a limited period of time during which they are not required to make pension plan contributions, (i) what is the government’s position on whether or not all pensioners should have received increases to their pension amounts at the same time and (ii) does the government plan to request retroactive payments from Marine Atlantic Inc. to increase the amount of the pension of some pensioners; ( g ) does the government plan to introduce specific legislation to protect Marine Atlantic Inc. pensioners/survivors and, if so, what provisions does it plan to introduce; and ( h ) does the government plan to provide legal assistance to the pensioners who were previously employed at Marine Atlantic Inc. so that all questions may be resolved to the satisfaction of all the pensioners?