Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 20/99) - Last week, the federal government put $13 million per year into Northern pension plans for current and retired federal and territorial employees, teachers, Canada Post employees, military personnel and the RCMP.

They have now passed a bill to push that responsibility onto the GNWT.

"We're going to do what we can," said Finance Minister Charles Dent.

"If we can stay in the current plan, that's fine. We obviously can't afford to stay in if it's going to be a cost of the magnitude that we're looking at right now."

Dent stressed that the government is looking at how to best protect the employees' pensions and is looking at different options.

Foremost of those options is to stay in the current plan if the federal government is able to offer some help.

NWT representatives joined counterparts in Yukon and Nunavut in lobbying finance officials in Ottawa last month for federal help if the bill passes into law.

"We made the argument that because of the nature of our formula financing deal, Finance Canada should fail-safe, or make up the shortfall for us because it's a change in federal policy over which we don't have any influence and for which we have not had adequate time to prepare."

Dent said he understands Finance Canada's reaction is that if they do make up the shortfall, it would not be on an on-going basis.

"We don't have that officially from them," Dent said before stressing how important a quick response is from the federal government.

"They understand the importance of this issue for us because in terms of planning for the next budget cycle we need to know what their response is going to be."

Dent said if the worst-case scenario plays out and the federal government says next week that no help will come, then his department would immediately look for alternatives to the current superannuation program.

"It will take us time, and I'm talking about more than a year to switch from superannuation to a different program," Dent said.

"If we were trying to set up our own program it would probably take us two years."

As the GNWT adjusts to the decision, regional executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Jean-Francois Des Lauriers took aim at the new Northern senators for voting for the bill.

"To add insult to injury, (new NWT senator Nick) Sibbeston seconded the motion for the third and final reading and (Yukon senator Ione) Christensen crafted her maiden speech to support this bill," Des Lauriers said.