Saint John seeks permanent pension fix

Saint John council has voted to ask the legislative assembly to repeal its pension act, a move that would give the city greater flexibility in dealing with its pension crisis.

The citys new council voted on Wednesday night to seek the legislatures approval to scrap the Saint John Pension Act.

The councils request will be sent directly to the provincial government.

If the legislative assembly approves the request, it would mean the city would no longer need the provincial legislature's approval to make some changes to the pension plan.

Saint John Mayor Mel Norton said Fredericton and Moncton both run their own pensions through bylaws and the proposal is to have Saint John's plan work the same way.

The city would still have to follow regulations put in place by the provinces superintendent of pensions.

Norton said there would be a second set of eyes reviewing all changes.

The newly-elected mayor has already met with Premier David Alward to discuss the citys pension problems. Earlier this week, Norton said he wanted to "express to the premier and to his office the importance of this issue, how critical it is to deal with it and to deal with it once and for all."

Saint John is saddled with a $193-million pension deficit.

The city is proposing reforms to the pension plan that would include temporarily de-indexing pensions from inflation and increasing employee contributions.

The reforms should put the city on pace to eliminate its $193-million pension deficit in 14 years.

Saint John had hoped to have the reforms in front of the legislative assembly last winter but it missed a series of deadlines.

Those deadlines were finally met earlier in May but the changes prompted another controversy.

Stephen Chase, the former deputy mayor, said the proposal included a provision that would have included a benefit that would have benefited only the citys top earners.

The contentious clause was to be removed from the reform package, according to city staff.