Bell Canada Pension Plan 1998 COLA Error Class Action, July 24, 2023
July 24, 2023
On July 24, 2023, Bell Canada advised us that it had developed an “action plan” to reimburse the retirees who have been underpaid by the 1998 COLA Error. Bell Canada said that the federal pension regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (“OSFI”) “does not object” to its action plan.
Neither the retirees nor our firm were involved nor invited to participate in the formulation of the action plan. Nevertheless, upon receipt of the outline of the plan from Bell Canada, we reviewed it with the actuary we retained and then sent the Bell Canada lawyers a list of questions asking them to clarify the proposed compensation amount, the actuarial methodology, the interest to apply, and the enforceability of the compensation payments, and other aspects of how the action plan would work.
We sent our questions to Bell Canada on August 1, 2023 and again, on August 29, 2023. The Bell Canada lawyers provided a reply to our questions on September 22, 2023. Our pension actuary is currently reviewing Bell Canada’s reply.
