(Editorial reprinted with permission from Saint City News, St. Albert. February 17, 2006.)

Filling a Mandate
Although the spring sitting of the Alberta Legislative Assembly will likely be dominated by the premier's "Third Way" for health care, it is important that other relevant issues not get lost in the shuffle.
St. Albert MLA Jack Flaherty, the official opposition's education critic, intends at some time in this spring sitting to address the issue of an unfunded liability in the Alberta Teachers' Association pension fund.
On a legal level, any pension fund must have sufficient capital to pay out all workers if they were to retire immediately - this is called the net liability.
As stewards of the pension fund, Alberta governments through the '60s and '70s short- changed the ATA pension fund through creative accounting.
This led to a shortfall of about $7 billion in the fund's liability. In 1992, the government admitted its role in creating this shortfall and agreed to pay two thirds of it. To date, that sum has not been paid.
Calling the government's financial obligation to the unfunded liability anything other than a debt is disingenuous at best. Let's call it what it is and make sure it's dealt with.

Ralph Klein has been elected, re-elected and re-re-elected on a mandate. It's a mandate that has been ...

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ARTA © 2005

possibly the strongest, and most successful, election plank in Canadian history: eliminating governmental debt.
This debt, currently carried on the backs of teachers, is slowly (ever so slowly) being paid off with deductions from teachers' salaries. Alberta teachers pay 3.3 percent of their income, on top of all other taxes, just to pay down the deficit on the account.
To boot, this 'unfunded liability' means that the way pensions are calculated for retired teachers are locked in to the same formulas they were calculated with in the 1960s.
This is a matter of fiscal responsibility. This is the Tory government's mandate.
We're glad that one of our local MLAs is willing to tackle it, and hope that Jack Flaherty's voice on this issue doesn't get lost in the hubbub over the "Third Way."

Pension Committee Report
In 2005 ARTA identified 14 Branch Pension Representatives (BPRs). A training session was conducted to familiarize the BPRs with information on the Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund (ATRF) pensions and a number of issues and problems of concern to ARTA members.
Those representatives are located in the 14 ARTA branches and are prepared to share their expertise with our members. They can meet with small groups and/or present at branch meetings..
The ARTA Pension committee will offer ongoing support and training for the BPRs to ensure that all ARTA members have current information on their ATRF pensions.
If you do not know the name of your branch BPR call the ARTA office toll free at 1-800-232-2600.

Watch out for details on the Premier's "Third Way" for health care in Alberta.
The spring session of the Alberta Legislature is now underway and the Premier has promised that the proposals for the "third way" will be introduced this spring.