Our government understands that Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA), though not guaranteed in the
  Teachers Pension Act, are important to retired teachers. The roots of the current reality with regards
  to COLA began previous to me becoming a teacher and long before I became Minister. ...

  Responsible planning and gradual contribution rate increases could have ensured more predictable COLA
  for today’s retired teachers, unfortunately such a situation did not occur and now we are dealing with the
  new realities that there are fewer than 2 active teachers for every retired teacher. ...

  Fortunately, we are all willing to discuss pension issues at forums such as this and there are individuals
  committed to working together to ensure that long term solutions to any concerns are found.

  Proof of our commitment can be witnessed in how many times our government has opened the Teachers’
  Pension Act to attend to issues of importance to active and retired teachers.

 ... the Act had not been amended in a significant way for ten years previous to our government taking
  office. That’s in excess of ten years of retired teachers’ concerns going unaddressed. In contrast, since
  2000 I’m proud to say that our government has amended the Act four times to adopt new provisions:

  Bill 48, passed in June 2005, raised the TRAF contributions of active teachers by 1.1% to 6.8%, the first
  increase of its kind in 25 years. This increase in contributions will allow for an increase in funds provided
  to the main account, and will generate approximately $1.5 million in contributions in the first year to be
  remitted to the Pension Adjustment Account. This increase, which also reflects an additional financial
  cost to government, is an important step to ensuring a strong and properly managed teachers’ pension
  fund.

 Brian Ardern, Manitoba Teachers' Society President
 I’m pleased to be here today as the President of the Manitoba Teachers Society. The issue of a COLA is a
 very important one. To retired teachers and also to active teachers. All of us expect to stop paying into our
 pensions and draw on them someday. And our pensions should be important to everyone – since the
 pension dollars spent in Manitoba help to sustain and grow our economy.

 Concerns around COLA are not new. In the early 1980s, COLA fell significantly short of inflation. In the
 `90s our COLA did significantly better, paying out full COLA in most years even during times of education
 funding cuts, teacher salary freezes and the loss of about 800 teaching positions. Since the late `90s
 however, as the ratio of retired to active teachers grew, our ability to fund COLA has been greatly impaired.

 We appreciate that the current government has taken an interest in our pension plan. After enduring a
 period of more than a decade without a single change, the current government has opened up the
 legislation four times - to the benefit of all active and retired teachers.

 This spring government announced a significant contribution increase for active teachers. We asked for the
 support of RTAM when we first proposed an increase in late 2002. Our change, calling for an additional
 contributions of 2% of salary would have seen 58 cents of every dollar go to the PAA to pay an improved
 COLA.

 In the end government agreed to a 1.1% increase. Active teachers are now paying a lot more. This
 translates into an 18% increase in the money available for COLA’s– but it isn’t enough.

 No one should think this problem will be settled easily or quickly. A problem that demographics have
 produced over 25 years will not yield to simple answers.

 The Manitoba Teachers Society will work to find solid long term solutions for not only the teachers who are
 going to retire, or the teachers who have retired, but also for the teachers who have yet to start their
 teaching careers.

 MTS is committed to talking with government and with retired teachers to address this issue. We waited
 more than two decades before asking government for a contribution increase. We can’t wait another two
 decades to deal with this issue.

Dee Dee Rizzo, RTAM Past President
 Good afternoon RTAM members and supporters.
 To borrow from Shakespeare’s Richard III ... "Now is the winter of our discontent."

  ... I retired in 1999, retired after 32 years of teaching, retired after paying into the COLA account for
  22 years, retired in time to watch the rapid decline of our COLA, retired in time to be told a few years
  later that, despite what we had been led to believe, 1/2 of 1% was the best we could expect to be
  added to our pension to protect us from the eroding effects of inflation. 1/2 of 1%!
  Who could ever have imagined that this would happen!!

 Since retirement I have seen the buying power of my pension collapse. After six years of retirement
 my pension dollar is now worth approximately 93 cents. Every year that the COLA problem is ignored
 the buying power of my pension will decrease. At the rate this is happening it won’t be too many more
 years before I won’t have to go to the States to experience an 85 cent dollar – I’ll be able to do it from
 the comfort of my own home This is not what I expected. This is not what we expected. This is not
 what we were told to expect. And it is certainly not what we deserve.

 Are we being unreasonable? Is it unreasonable to want to stem the erosion of the buying power
 of our pension? Is it unreasonable to expect that something be done? Is it unreasonable to expect
 that something be done soon? Time is not on our side.

 Are we being unreasonable? I bring you greetings from the Canadian Armed Forces whose pensions
 were indexed 100%. I bring you greetings from every provincial teacher pension plan who last year
 protected their retired teachers by 2%, 1.3%, 1.4%, 1.72% 1.3% 0.7% and 1.2% I bring you greetings
 from Manitoba’s Civil Service Superannuation Board which protected its recipients to 1.41%.
 Our protection? 0.4%

 Were we unreasonable in 1977 when we made a deal with the government to reduce their responsibility
 for paying for the COLA of retired teachers from 100%to 50%? We accepted the responsibility with
 the understanding that our turn would come. Well here we are and I don’t think getting a COLA of 0.4%
 was what we had in mind as being fair. We worked hard and provided good and valuable service to
 our students and our communities. We paid into our pension plan and supported the COLA of the retirees
 of the time so that our earned pensions, our deferred salaries would be protected when our turn came.
 It’s only fair that we be provided with adequate protection. We made a fair deal – we want fair treatment.
 We earned it! We deserve it. We paid for it.

 18 years. That’s how long the governments of Manitoba have been warned by the actuary of the
 Teachers’ Retirement Allowance Fund that the funding of COLA was going to be in trouble.
 18 years – the same amount of time that it takes a baby to reach adulthood. If a parent ignored the advice
 of a doctor and failed to treat an illness of an enfant they would be considered a bad parent. What does
 that say about governments that have repeatedly ignored the professional advice of the actuaries.
 18 years. It’s a long time to avoid the prudent, fiscally responsible course.
 18 years of inaction! – a very long time.

 It’s time to look forward. It’s time to fix the problem. It’s time that the government called the Pension
 Task Force together to find a solution. It is also time that RTAM members have their representatives at
 the table but not by grace or favour, but as independent representatives of retirees, privy to all the
 discussions and having full participation in all decisions. It is time to negotiate a fair and reasonable
 solution to the COLA problem. It’s time that the government commits itself to the fair treatment of its
 retired teachers and its future retired teachers who are still hard at work in the classroom. BECAUSE
 If nothing is done to improve our COLA, here is what’s going to happen! Every teacher now toiling
 in the classes and schools of this province, every teacher now paying into the pension plan and
 the inadequate COLA account, every teacher who survives to retirement, every one of these teachers
 will join us, the current retired teachers, and will be forced to share our winter of discontent. .

 So to prevent this from happening, let us all, Government, MTS and RTAM, agree to work together to
 achieve a fair and reasonable solution in time for all of us to enjoy it. Let us all ensure that this happens.