ACVA Committee Report

New Democrats demand accountability and fairness in survivor pensions for CAF and RCMP Veterans and federal public servants

Supplementary Opinion of the New Democratic Party (NDP)

Walt and Norma Pinsent have been married for 17 years. He is in his early eighties, a retired RCMP Staff Sergeant with an autistic son from his first marriage. Norma is also retired and has been his caregiver, seeing him through multiple surgeries and supporting his family. Walt is completely devoted to Norma. Yet, when Walt dies, despite his 24 years of service and contributing to his pension, he will be unable to leave Norma a survivor benefit. As a result, she will be pushed into living on the edge of poverty, unable to live in their home or continue as guardian and caregiver for Walt’s son. This causes Walt great concern.

“My stress level is resulting sometimes in restless nights. I'm continually assessing our resources. I want Norma to be able to live in her own home and continue to be an integral part of this community. I want to grant her the benefits of my pension and give us peace of mind. I'm running out of sunsets, and this issue is heavy on my heart.”[1]

Corporal Kevin Sewell (retired) also testified how it made him feel not to be able to take care of his spouse, Tracy Evanshen, after he passed.

“When I found this out, it was like a kick in the gut. It just totally deflated me. I wouldn't be able to give her what I had planned to give her, and I did not feel like a total human or a total man.”[2]

In this study moved by NDP MP Rachel Blaney, the Committee heard similar heart-breaking testimony from Veterans, RCMP Veterans, a retired Corrections Canada officer, and their spouses. It is clear, the Pinsents, and almost 9000 Canadians like them, are being punished by the government simply for finding love.

Survivor pension benefits do not exist for members of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP Veterans, and federal public servants if they marry after the age of 60, or after retirement, because of an outdated chauvinistic law that the Liberals have been promising to eliminate since 2015, known as the ‘Golddigger Clause’. Trudeau and his government have continually failed to act, breaking their promises, and pushing thousands of Canadians, mostly senior women, into living in the shadow of the risk of poverty.

New Democrats believe spouses like Norma are worth fighting for.

A government’s priorities are conveyed through its budget, not its talk. Where the Government of Canada spends our tax dollars underlines the issues considered to be the priorities of that governing party. In this study, the committee was able to examine whether the elimination of the ‘Marriage After 60’ clause contained in the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act (CFSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act (RCMPSA), the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), and the Judges Act, is considered a priority by the current Liberal government.

Eliminating the marriage after 60 clause from pension legislation was a promise made twice by the Liberal Party of Canada – in the Prime Minister’s 2015 and 2017 mandate letters to the Minister of Veterans Affairs. But the Prime Minister did not keep his promises to deal with this archaic, sexist legislation. Instead, in Budget 2019, he offered survivors of Veterans a measly $150 million over 5 years through the Veterans Survivors Fund (VSF), but did not extend the offer to RCMP Veterans, a move decried by the RCMP Veterans Association. When asked about the VSF in committee, Sandy Glenn, President, testified:

“We're not eligible. It's that simple. On that $150 million, I understand that none of that has even been spent. The RCMP is not included. The Government of Canada does not recognize the RCMP as veterans. Therefore, we were excluded from that $150 million.”[3]

His testimony was recorded in April 2022. It is now December 2022 and the Veterans Survivors Fund has still not left the books. Not one penny has been spent. Veterans, family members of Veterans, advocates and pension experts are puzzled by this inaction. As Patrick Imbeau, pension policy officer with the National Association of Federal Retirees testified,

“I don't understand why the funds have not been doled out. I guess maybe there's some issue with identifying exactly who these people are. Again, I'm taking guesses, because, as Anthony spoke about, we need transparency here. We don't know what's going on. We don't know why they haven't been able to identify these people. We don't know why they haven't been given the funds. We know that there was research done from CIMVHR and it wasn't published, so what's going on?

 I understand that there are possibly issues with COVID, and that's why, for example, Eric Li's research was affected, but that shouldn't affect the numbers of take-up. The pension centre should have this information.”[4]

The Liberal Government talked a lot about the injustice of this clause in 2015 and 2017, made an announcement in 2019, but then did nothing for survivors, even sitting on $150 million for over three years with no sign in sight of money getting out the door to survivors. The Liberals have dismally failed Veterans and their families.

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is mandated to support the well-being of Veterans and their families.[5] This includes ensuring survivors of Veterans do not fall into poverty and homelessness, because military families serve, too. And yet the department continually tries to shirk its responsibility towards survivors, as explained by Crystal Garrett-Baird, Director General, Policy and Research in reference to the VSF.

“It is important to note that this fund does not change the marriage after 60 clause in the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act. This act is under the responsibility of the Department of National Defence.”[6]

Interestingly, this is not what the Department of National Defence (DND) has stated. At the June 6, 2022 meeting of the Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN), in answering a question posed by MP Rachel Blaney on the Golddigger clause, Mr. Bill Matthews, Deputy Minister of National Defence, said,

“my recollection on this issue is that the lead is Veterans Affairs Canada. I'm happy to confirm that and confirm they are indeed leading.”[7]

Pointing the finger at another department tells you all you need to know about this government’s intentions and priorities. Veterans and their families are not included. On the Golddigger clause, there is no government accountability.

New Democrats have been fighting to eliminate the Golddigger clause for decades. In November 2006, a motion tabled by Peter Stoffer was agreed to by the House of Commons. It stated that the government should immediately “amend Section 31 (1) of the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act so that second spouses of CF members and veterans have access to pension rights upon the death of the Canadian Forces member or veteran.”[8] Since 2006, seven private Member’s bills to address the issue have been introduced by NDP Members of Parliament. The most recent, bill C-221, was introduced in the 44^th Parliament by Rachel Blaney, Member for North Island-Powell River.[9]

The report from the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs for this study suggests that the reason for inaction on this issue is economics. The government has offered no other explanation for keeping the clause, ergo the reason must be it cannot afford to pay survivor pension benefits. Yet the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) analyzed bill C-221 and came to a different conclusion. Canadians deserve to know exactly how much it will cost to eliminate the Golddigger clause.

In his analysis, the PBO found it would cost $1.33 billion over 5 years to provide survivor pension benefits to all Veterans, RCMP Veterans, and spouses of federal public servants.[10] While this is a large sum of money, it must be considered in context.

According to the Canada Pension Plan Annual Report 2019-2020, the annual federal pension payout for retirement benefits was $38.9 billion in 2020. If the government were to eliminate the clause, the additional cost to the pension fund would be less than a 2% change on an annual basis.[11] Therefore, eliminating the Golddigger clause would be a fair and equitable solution that supports the long-term sustainability of hard-earned pensions for CAF and RCMP Veterans, as well as federal public servants, while also ensuring their spouses receive the survivor benefits.

New Democrats believe that Veterans who marry after the age of 60 deserve to know that their spouse will be taken care of just like any other married couple. The Golddigger clause is archaic, sexist and must be eliminated.

Therefore, the NDP makes the following recommendations.

That the Government of Canada eliminate the ‘marriage after 60’ clause from all pension legislation, immediately.

That Veterans Affairs Canada distribute the Veterans Survivors Fund to the identified survivors, immediately.