Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 29/00) - Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew is "working hard" to resolve the pension issue facing Giant miners.

Retired Giant workers in the underfunded hourly pension plan are about to see a 25 per cent cut to their benefits, beginning April 1.

In town on Saturday, the MP told Yellowknifer she has been "putting a lot of pressure to bear" on her cabinet colleagues.

"I have briefed anybody who would listen on this file," Blondin-Andrew said.

Two weeks ago, Blondin-Andrew said she was in the midst of a "concerted effort" with Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) Minister Robert Nault, as well as Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions) Jim Peterson, to aid Giant miners.

On Saturday Blondin-Andrew said, "We're working on, basically, the pension, and we're not there yet. We're not in a position to say anything. We know it's taking time, but we have to treat it delicately."

The MP said she's focusing her efforts on the pension issue right now, though she knows the severance issue is also important. (More than 200 workers laid off from the bankrupt mine have not received severance pay.)

Blondin-Andrew is also seeking changes to pension legislation so workers in other parts of the country will not have their pensions jeopardized.

The MP said she doesn't want to dwell on the role played by DIAND, which facilitated the sale of Giant mine to Miramar in December.

"I don't want to revisit history, I want to find a solution for the future of these individuals," Blondin-Andrew said.

Regarding a petition in support of Giant miners sent to Ottawa two weeks ago, Blondin-Andrew said she offered to give the petition to a colleague to table. She said that as a member of the privy council, she cannot present petitions.

Blondin-Andrew said she did not mind it when the Citizens' Action Group gave the petition to NDP labour critic Pat Martin to table in the House of Commons.

Martin tabled the petition Monday.

"It was the largest single petition I've ever tabled," Martin told Yellowknifer Monday.

The petition, sent by the Citizens' Action Group, bore more than 1,700 signatures when it was sent from Yellowknife March 16.

"The government played a role in negotiating away the severance pay and pension benefit to these workers, and now has an obligation to intervene," Martin said. "They essentially bargained away the employees' rights in their eagerness to get a new buyer."

Also on Monday, the legislative assembly passed a resolution urging the federal government to help ex-Giant workers and amend legislation to protect workers across the country.

Also, on Thursday a representative from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions will visit Yellowknife. That body oversees pension plans in Canada.