Fredericton council backs off pension reform

Fredericton councillors sent a contentious plan to deal with the city's troubled pension plan back to city staff for more consideration.

More than 100 people showed up at Tuesday night's council meeting to express their concern over a proposal to stop paying cost of living increases to employees retiring after January.

The plan was part of an effort to get the pension plan's $39.4-million deficit under control.

Coun. Marilyn Kerton said she is hoping Fredericton, along with other cities that are having trouble balancing their pension plans, can approach the provincial government for some leeway in how it tackles the pension issue.

Saint John is another city that is grappling with a massive pension deficit.

Provincial law force cities to balance their pension deficits within 15 years and the city politicians are hoping that rule can be made more flexible.

"I think in numbers that we can go to the province and we can ask for changes, and get that 15 years hopefully changed to 25 years, and have that revisited," Kerton said.

That proposal is being supported by a union that represents city staff.

Wade Kierstead, the president of Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3896, said he hopes the city can negotiate an extension on repaying the pension deficit.

"It's the same as … if you go out and you need to repay something over 15 years versus 25, obviously the 25 is better when it's just simply waiting for markets to rebound and overall improvement," Kierstead said.

Though no time frame was announced, one union representative said they hope to have a solution to the pension problem in place by July.