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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Gayla Meredith, president of the NWT Teachers Association, asked trustee candidates at last Thursday's all-candidates forum to say whether or not Yk1 teachers deserved the same pension benefits as other teachers in the NWT and Canada.

She said Yk1 teachers are currently the only teachers in Canada who receive a defined contributions plan.

This means, when a teacher retires, they are given a set amount based on the contributions in their RRSP/pension investment account and the number of years they chose to receive their funds over.

If the retired teacher lives beyond what they estimated, they will not have more funds to receive. Meredith requested a one-word answer from each of the candidates to the following question:

"Do you believe Yk1 teachers deserve to have the same retirement benefits as other teachers in the NWT and across Canada?"

John Stephenson said he did not have enough information to respond.

Heather Clarke said, "Yes."

Terry Brookes said, "Yes, I'd definitely look into it."

Jay Butler said, "Definitely worth looking into."

Mira Hall said, "Yes, clearly they deserve it."

Allan Shortt said, "Yes."

Blake Lyons declared a conflict of interest because he currently serves as secretary-treasurer for Northern Employee Benefits Services, a non-profit organization that promotes pension plans and insurance.

After Meredith later asked the candidates what they would do to address the issue of Yk1 teachers' pensions, Butler, Hall and Shortt said the board is limited by what they are given by the GNWT and it would be an issue to discuss during contract negotiations between the NWT Teachers' Association and the GNWT.

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