MEPCO Member Newsletter - October 2020
MEPCO Board Report
The MEPCO Board held a virtual meeting in September and discussed a number of key issues, including: Public Sector Accounting Board’s (PSAB) review of the treatment of multi-employer pension plan liabilities; the OMERS Board Effectiveness Review; and the 2019 MEPCO Annual Report.
OMERS Governance Review – Weighted Voting
The MEPCO Board heard that OMERS’ ongoing Governance Review includes consideration of weighted voting for OMERS Board SC members. AMO’s appointees to the SC Board currently have two votes each, reflecting the large proportion of OMERS members employed by municipalities represented by AMO. MEPCO opposes any changes to weighted voting for OMERS SC Board members. MEPCO believes that municipal employers should continue to hold a proportionate share of the votes on the Board. This position has since been supported by the AMO Board. AMO, as the plan sponsor on behalf of municipal employers, will be formally submitting this position to OMERS.
OMERS Governance Review – Arbitration
The OMERS Governance Review also considers the appropriateness and utility of current arbitration provisions where matters relating to Plan design changes and appointments to the AC Board cannot be resolved by the SC Board. This review, along with the weighted voting matter, will be discussed further at OMERS’ Sponsor Forum on November 9 and the Stakeholder Forum on November 10.
Public Sector Accounting Board’s (PSAB) Review of Municipal Accounting Standards
OMERS officials updated the MEPCO Board on PSAB’s current consultations, which are considering requiring public entities (individual employers) to report their share of a multi-employer pension plan’s accrued benefit as a liability on financial statements. MEPCO shares OMERS’ concerns about what PSAB is proposing in the context of current Ontario legislation, feasibility, cost and other issues. OMERS will work with AMO and other municipal organizations on advocating against this proposal. In 2018, MEPCO issued a joint submission with the Municipal Finance Officers’ Association against the considered change.
2019 MEPCO Annual Report
The 2019 MEPCO Annual Report was presented to the Board. It was approved and is now available.
Other Highlights from September 2020 Board Meeting
AMO SC representatives Barry Brown and Marianne Love, and AMO AC representatives Michael Fenn and Penny Somerville, updated the MEPCO Board on OMERS Plan performance. They explained that COVID-19 continues to present many uncertainties, and that the true impact on Plan performance will only become fully apparent in the coming months. However, there is a recognition that recently approved shared risk indexing will provide flexibility that may be helpful in adjusting to impacts in the longer term.
OMERS Presentation at AMO Conference
OMERS AC President and CEO Blake Hutcheson and OMERS SC CEO Michael Rolland delivered a presentation to the 2020 AMO Conference in August. The Conference was held entirely online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The video presentation provides important information and insights for MEPCO members and can be viewed here.