Ottawa Chapter, includingOntario East, North & Outaouais Newsletter, May 2016

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Meetings From our Chapter Chair President’s Message Membership Drive: Volunteers Needed! Update on Target Benefit Pension

Plans

Federal Budget: OAS Back to 65 Recommendations for Board of

Directors 2016-2017 Manulife Contract Number to Use Membership Renewals & Applications

UPCOMING MEETINGS IN YOUR AREACity Date Time Place

Ottawa Tues 24 May 2016

9:30am - 12:30pmRegistration at 8:45am

Nepean Sportsplex (Salon A)1701 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa

Kingston Tues 13 Sep 2016

1pm Registration &Social Hour, Refreshments

2pm – 4pm Meeting

Salvation Army Citadel “Gym”816 Centenial Dr

(cnr Taylor Kidd Bldg), Kingston

Ottawa Tues 25 Oct 2016

9:30am - 12:30pmRegistration at 8:45am

Nepean Sportsplex (Salon A)1701 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa

At the 24 May meeting Dr Hillel Finestone will speak on the subject of Strokes.

FROM OUR CHAPTER CHAIR

Hello Everyone!

I hope each of you had a great winter. I am very pleased to see all of the snow disappear and summer on its way.

Over the last couple of months I have received a number of complaints regarding the new Manulife Health card, which was effective Jan 1, 2016.  This card should be used for both drugs and dental. Recently I had occasion to use my new card at both the pharmacy and my dentist. Each one used the numbers on my card and both my claims

were successfully submitted. Please make sure that you advise your pharmacy/dentist that you have a new card and ensure that the numbers on the card are entered correctly by the pharmacy or dentist. In the cases I was involved in there were keying errors. If there is a problem, there are numbers on the card to call: the Pharmacy Call Centre (Pharmacists only) 1 800 563 3214; and the Manulife Customer Service Centre 1 800 268 6195. Prior to your retirement was your career in MARKETING?  I need your help.  Please contact me at meekak@sympatico.ca or call me on 613 692 0007.

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Reminder: your membership runs on a calendar year so 2016 dues are now due.

Also please mark your calendar for our meeting date and remember this is a meeting where you should bring your spouse

and a friend. Looking forward to seeing you!

Marlyn EasterbrookChapter Chair for Ottawa, includingOntario East, North & Outaouais

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Hi Everyone!

As you will likely recall, 2015 was a busy and challenging year for BPG, especially with respect to the government’s target benefit pension plan proposal, and we believe this

year will be equally busy. I encourage you to read the article entitled “Update on Target Benefit Pension Plans” in this newsletter for information about the significant inroads we made last year and the work we now have underway to protect the security of our defined benefit pensions.

Last month, Bell advised us that the solvency deficits* for the Bell, BCE, and Telebec pension plans remain at about 90%. Notably, this is higher than the average solvency deficit across Canadian pension plans. In addition, as part of its 2015 Q4 and annual results announcement, Bell reported

*Solvency Deficit refers to the deficit that would exist if the plan were to be wound up today.

it made a voluntary contribution of $250M to the Bell Pension Plan in December 2015. This is good news for us. (BCE also made special contributions to the BCE, Bell Aliant Regional Company (BARC) and Telebec pension plans in 2014.)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who took the time to contact the CRTC in support of Bell’s position in the proceeding to re-define basic telecom service and determine how it should be regulated. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that a financially healthy sponsor usually translates into a healthy pension plan!

We are currently putting the final touches on the report and related action plan developed to address the results of last year’s membership survey. We will be reviewing that action plan at the upcoming spring Annual General Meetings. Patte Seaton, Denis Marquis, and I look forward to seeing you there.

Daniel McDonaldPresident – Bell Pensioners’ Group

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

We are looking for volunteers to help us in our new BPG membership drive initiatives. This involves calling recent retirees and encouraging them to join by sharing with them the advantages of being a BPG member. To make the task easier, we already have written scripts you can use when contacting prospective members. It is extremely important not only to sustain our membership but also to grow it, since our collective strength is reflected by the number of members we have.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Michel Brisson, our membership coordinator,  at ottawa@bellpensionersgroup.ca 

Other ways you can also help:The biggest challenge we have in our membership drive initiatives is obtaining new retiree contact information such as the telephone number and email address where we can contact them. Although the Bell In-Touch publications provide the names of recent retirees including the province where they reside, their respective contact

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information is not released.  If you know the contact information of any retiree whom you believe might be interested in joining, please

encourage them to contact us at Michel’s email: ottawa@bellpensionersgroup.ca

 UPDATE ON TARGET BENEFIT PENSION PLANS

When we last updated you on the status of federal legislation related to Target Benefit Pensions (TBPs), we reported that the Minister of State for Finance had committed to ensuring that the federal legislation would reflect the key principle that BPG had been advocating: that an individual’s Defined Benefit Pension could not be converted to a TBP without the explicit consent of that individual.

Since that time, the federal election was held, resulting in a change in government. At this point, it is unclear as to the priority that the new government is giving to work on TBPs or other pension-related initiatives, although the recent federal budget stated that “The government is committed to advancing measures that will foster conditions that allow federally regulated financial institutions and pension funds to build on their current strengths and adapt to a changing world, while ensuring risks and vulnerabilities are monitored closely and addressed effectively.” In the coming weeks, BPG representatives

will be meeting with key players in the government to ensure that they understand our positions and concerns on TBPs and other pension issues that could affect BPG members, and to gain insights as to the nature and timing of any government actions. We will keep you posted as more information becomes available.

Meanwhile, the Province of Ontario has indicated in its 2016 budget that it will press forward with pension-related initiatives which could negatively affect members of Defined Benefit plans that are regulated in Ontario (although the Bell Canada pension plan is federally regulated, the BCE pension plan is subject to Ontario’s jurisdiction). BPG will support the work of the Canadian Federation of Pensioners to ensure that pensioner concerns are understood and actively considered by the province as it pursues those initiatives.

BPG continues to closely monitor pension-related developments across Canada, with the goal of protecting your Defined Benefit Pension.

FEDERAL BUDGET: OAS CHANGES BACK TO 65

Currently, individuals are eligible to collect the federal Old Age Security (OAS) pension at age 65, though the start date can be deferred up to age 70 in exchange for higher payments.

The previous federal government changed the OAS regime so that eligibility would gradually shift to age 67 – a change that would affect all retirees born after April 1958. This change also had the potential to create a two-year gap in retirement income

for Bell retirees born after April 1958 who had opted, at retirement, for the Lifetime Integrated Pension, which assumes that OAS payments start at age 65.

This concern was addressed in the federal budget tabled on March 22, in which the Liberal government reversed the previously-announced change in OAS eligibility so that Canadians will remain eligible to collect OAS starting at age 65.

 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2016-2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Further to the adoption of the most recent by-laws governing the operation of not-for-profit organizations, the Board may consist

of between seven and 20 members; as in the past, we aim to reflect, as much as possible, a proportional representation of our

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membership, which was about 56% from Ontario and 44% from Québec, as of December 31, 2015. The proposed Board has 20 members, representing a 60/40 regional split. Board members may serve up to three consecutive terms of two years.

Six seats are reserved for directors elected by each chapter (three in Ontario and three in Québec) as their Chapter Chairs. For the remaining seats, recommendations are made by the Nominating Committee. following the annual nomination process by BPG members. The Board presents this Slate of candidates to our members for election.

BPG continues the meaningful work of protecting our pensions and we are always looking for retiree volunteers on our Board, our Committees, in some leadership roles, and even for some project work at both the National and Chapter levels. If you are interested in volunteering for BPG and leveraging your talent, we need you! Please do not hesitate to contact Louise Touchette at ltouchette22@gmail.com We are actively seeking replacement for two key leadership roles – the Chapter Chairs for Ontario Central and Ontario East, North and Outaouais. These Chapter Chairs will remain in their position up to the time that they will find a successor. Please let Louise know if you are interested in learning more about these roles.

You will find below the list of candidates recommended for the 2016-2017 Board of Directors.

BPG members will be asked to approve, by a show of hands, the election of these dedicated volunteers at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

2016-2017 Slate of Directors

Ontario TermPatte Seaton 2016-2018Diane Holgate * 2016-2018Gayle Duchene 2015-2017Michelle Pilon * 2016-2018Sue Dawes 2015-2017Marg Eades 2016-2018

Dave Palmer 2015-2017Peter Dilworth 2015-2017Denis Henry* 2016-2018Québec TermDan Mc Donald 2016-2018Denis Marquis * 2016-2018Carol Lacroix * 2016-2018Raynald Wilson * 2016-2018Hélène D. Lefebvre * 2016-2018

Note: Carol Lacroix has accepted the position of Communication Director on a temporary basis until September 2016.

Chapter Chairs (elected by the members of their respective Chapters)

Ontario Chapter TermMarlyn Easterbrook

Ontario East, North & Outaouais

2016-2018

Titus Ramkhalawansingh

Ontario Central 2016-2018

Don Graham Southwestern Ontario

2016-2018

QuébecJean-Luc Taschereau

Montréal 2015-2017

Claude Vachon

Télébec 2015-2017

Marjolaine Gilbert Poulin*

Québec 2016-2018

* New candidate. See profile following.

Profiles of New Candidates

Diane HolgateDiane retired from the Bell family in 2007 after 30 years of service. Starting her career as an Operator, she moved through Service Provisioning, Service Assurance, Business Transformation, Customer Care Support, Network Provisioning and retired as VP Operations at Expertech.

After retirement, Diane created a “Retail on the Road” business with a partner featuring ladies’ golf and leisure wear sourced from Canadian suppliers. The business grew and Diane and her husband were posted to Colorado.

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As a volunteer, Diane has held leadership positions in the Canadian and American communities, serving on the boards of Muscular Dystrophy, the Oakville Hospital Volunteer Association, the Canadian Military Family Advisory Committee, and the Colorado Women’s Golf Association.

Diane will join the BPG Board on June 1, 2016 and she will be recommended as a BPG Director at Large at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

Michelle PilonMichelle Pilon’s time at Bell spanned a 30 year career. Michelle retired in 1995, as Manager Right of Way, Outside Plant Ontario North.

Her career began in 1964 in Ottawa with Operator Services but soon moved to Commercial Business Office. In the early 70’s, she transferred to Budget and Results doing Commercial, I & R and Outside Plant district budgets at O.R. level, followed by Corporate budgets for BIS (Bell Information Systems). She also spent a number of years managing a team developing computer applications for productivity measurements for BIS. In 1990, she left Toronto, moved to the Georgian Bay area and took the position of Manager, Right of Way in Barrie, Ontario.

After retirement, Michelle worked for a few years with D.A.Williamson & Associates acquiring easements for Bell DMS equipment in the Greater Toronto area. Over the subsequent years, Michelle volunteered in many areas in her community: Penetanguishene Library Garden Tour fundraising; Physician recruitment for Georgian Bay General Hospital; Chair of the grants committee for the Huronia Community Foundation; Treasurer for the Midland branch of Habitat for Humanity.

She currently serves on the executive of the Probus Club of Simcoe North as past-president and is an active member of their Social committee. She has been a vocal supporter of BPG since its creation.

Michelle will join the BPG Board in May 2016 and she will be recommended as a BPG

Director at Large at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

Denis HenryDenis is a lawyer who retired from Bell Aliant at the end of 2014, having spent 39 years in the Bell family. His career included over 20 years as a Vice-President in varying roles in Bell Canada, Stentor and Bell Aliant. The last eight years of his career were spent as Vice-President, Regulatory and Public Law at Bell Aliant where he led a team responsible for telecommunications and broadcasting regulation generally, as well as other administrative law and public policy matters. He has represented Bell Aliant, Bell Canada and its Stentor Alliance partners in a variety of major CRTC regulatory proceedings. He has also represented Bell on various boards and organizations and has lectured frequently at various industry conferences. Denis joined the BPG Board as a Director at Large and a member of the Pension Committee in June 2015 and represents the BPG Board on the Canadian Federation of Pensioners’ Board.  He will be recommended as a BPG Director at Large at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.Denis MarquisDenis is a professional engineer who retired from the Bell family in 2003, after 30 years of service. He held management level positions with Bell and Télébec mainly in Network Provisioning (NP), retiring as General Manager – NP Support at Bell.

During this time, in 2000, he was assigned for a short term to Caracas, Venezuela for BCI, with a new start-up company called Genesis Telecom.

Since his retirement from Bell and for the following ten years, Denis managed real estate projects with a firm involved in retirement homes across Canada, as well as taking on project management with another firm providing outside plant engineering services to the Bell family.

As a volunteer, Denis has been involved for 30 years with the Kidney Foundation of Canada, serving as Chapter President (Québec City), Division President (Québec),

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Director on the national BOD, and National Treasurer.

Denis joined the BPG Board in October 2015 and is a member of the Governance and the Pension Committees. He will be recommended as a BPG Director at Large at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

Carol LacroixCarol retired from Bell in December 1997 after 30 years of service. She held numerous positions, starting as a mail clerk in 1967 and transitioning to service representative in both Consumer and Business Office. She then held management positions in the Business Office and retired within its Support and Methods Services.

From October 1998 to June 2013, she held positions with CGI Inc. where she received her certification in Project Management. She worked within the head office and was involved with the integration of numerous global acquisitions and multi-million dollar

internal projects.

Carol has been secretary on the Board of Directors for the Fondation du Foyer Dorval since May 2014.

Carol joined the BPG Board in January 2016 as a Director at Large and Chair of the Communications Committee up to September 2016, following our call for help to fill this position. Her nomination will be presented at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

Raynald WilsonRaynald retired from Bell in 2011 as Director of Human Resources (Operations) after over 32 years of service. In the first part of his career, he held a variety of human resources as well as industrial relations positions for Télébec / Bell Nordic in Montréal and Val D’Or. Prior to Bell, Raynald was Director of Industrial Relations and Human Resources for Bell Actimedia and Yellow Pages Group.

Raynald will join the Board in May 2016 and will be recommended as a BPG Director at Large at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

Hélène D. LefebvreHélène retired from Bell in 2004, after 32 years of service. During her career she held numerous management positions in Customer Service Business and Consumer, Installation & Repair and in the Training team. She spent the last five years of her career as General Manager of Operator Services Québec and Ontario, also playing a key role in the outsourcing activities to Nordia and the automation of the directory assistance.

After retirement she worked in administrative support for the South Shore Chamber of Commerce for five years and for a law firm until August 2013.

Hélène joined the BPG Board in September 2015, as a Director at Large and member of the Nominations Committee. Her nomination will be presented at the upcoming 2016 Chapters’ Annual General Meetings.

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Marjolaine Gilbert PoulinMarjolaine Gilbert Poulin worked in Sherbrooke, in Québec City and was responsible for a team in Montreal, at the Jean-Talon office. She retired in September1997 after 28 years of service.

Marjolaine has held positions in Network Operations (Central Office Engineering - Traffic), Operator Services, Internal Audit and, finally, as Regional Sales Manager - Gateways.

She now owns her own business - Diagnosis-plus, a consulting and training company inthe field of customer services.

Marjolaine is currently Vice-President of the BPG Québec Chapter and will be recommended as the Chapter’s Chair at the June 2016 Québec Chapter Annual General Meeting to be approved by the BPG Québec Chapter members.

MANULIFE CONTRACT NUMBER TO USE

Effective January 1, 2016 your Manulife contract numbers have changed.  You should have received a new card in the mail from Manulife Financial identifying the new contract number.  Please utilize this card for all your pharmacy, health care and dental needs.  

You will notice that you now have the same contract number for all these benefits. If you have not received your new card, please contact Manulife Financial: 1 800 268 6195.

For your convenience, claims can be submitted online on the Manulife plan member website.  For paper submissions, new claim forms with the new contract number are located on the Benefits web site. You can also use these new forms for expenses incurred prior to 2016. There are no changes to your benefits coverage under the new contract number.  This change is being implemented only to streamline administration of group benefits.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS AND NEW APPLICATIONS

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A reminder to those who have not paid their membership, to please do so. Membership for 2016 was due on 1 January. Annual membership of $20 for the Bell Pensioners' Group covers the period January 1 to December 31 each year. Feel free to pay for more than one year, if desired.

It is thanks to your support that we have been able to defend your interests over the years!

If you have changed your address, email, or telephone number please let us know.

Options for Payment At the next meeting. Online secure credit card payment using PayPalGo to www.bellpensionersgroup.ca, click Ottawa Chapter, Membership and follow the instructions. Note there is a $1 fee. Cheque sent by mailPlease complete the form below. Make your cheque payable to BPG Ottawa Chapter and mail to: Membership Renewal, BPG Ottawa Chapter P.O. Box 127, Merrickville ON, K0G 1N0.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------BPG Membership Application or Renewal

New Application Renewal Membership Number (if available) _____

Year(s) for which you are paying (e.g. 2016, 2017, etc.)*____________________

First name Last name Initial

Address City/Town

Province Postal Code Telephone ( ____ ) ________ Email

I would like to receive newsletters by EMail Mail

I retired from Bell Canada Bell Mobility Expertech Bell ExpressVu

BIMS Télébec Other (specify)

Date of Retirement (YYYY/MM) Transferring Member from Chapter

Signature Date (YYYY/MM/DD)

* Cheque of $20 per year, payable to BPG Ottawa Chapter

The personal information contained in this application will be protected by the BPG, used only for BPG purposes, and will not be shared with others.

This newsletter is published by the Ottawa Chapter of the Bell Pensioners’ Group (BPG). www.bellpensionersgroup.ca Please send any comments or suggestions to

BPG Ottawa Chapter, P.O. Box 127 OR Michel Brisson, Tel: 613-850-1811 Merrickville, Ontario K0G 1N0 Email: ottawa@bellpensionersgroup.ca

The inclusion of an advertisement in this newsletter does not imply an endorsement by BPG.

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