On behalf of the National Association of Federal Retirees, we wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season.
Our president, Roy Goodall, and CEO, Anthony Pizzino, have written letters to express their holiday wishes in their own words, reflecting on their gratitude for the Federal Retirees community and our shared successes.
A holiday message from our president
As I write this, I’m heading back to Calgary for the balance of December. For the last two weeks of the month, I plan to build snowmen and make gingerbread houses with my grandchildren. It’ll be a nice break from a busy 2024 with the Association. It’ll also be a time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished this year and what we can look forward to in 2025.
An excellent collaboration that comes to mind is our efforts to update the strategic plan for the Association. The plan, endorsed by the board, has had input from volunteers representing every branch in the country. It’s been a monumental effort in consultation and collaboration, and the board recently approved the final version, which will be presented to volunteers at the annual meeting of members in June 2025. I appreciate the efforts from all of the branch volunteers in helping to make this document an effective path forward for the Association.
This year also brought the transition of the Pensioners Dental Services Plan (PDSP) from Sun Life to Canada Life. I’m happy to report that it has been a much smoother transition than the Public Service Health Care Plan’s in 2023. This is partly because, at the urging of Federal Retirees, Treasury Board directed Canada Life to enrol everyone for whom they had information and that was the bulk of the plan members. Regarding the renegotiation of the PDSP, we are lobbying the Treasury Board president to give us the same deal she gave active public servants, which is an upgrade in the sense that the limits are higher, and the services are better.
We had important meetings, including two with the former seniors minister, Seamus O’Regan, and we continue to push for one with his successor, Steven MacKinnon. We attended the United Nations (UN) Open-ended Working Group on Ageing and made the case for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
A current preoccupation is to keep an eye on what the government plans to do with the potential $9 billion surplus in the Public Service Pension Fund. It has already moved $1.9 billion from the fund to its Consolidated Revenue Fund, a central government bank account. The government has promised to consult with the “appropriate parties” on what to do with the money, so we’re seeking standing as one of those parties.
It's hard to imagine all that money in surplus when so many of our members have had a difficult year making ends meet as a result of inflation in an affordability crisis that’s impacted housing, health care and food security, among others.
All that to say it’s been a tough, but ultimately productive year, and a year of hard work addressing all of the aforementioned issues. Now it’s time to take a rest, celebrate the holidays with family and friends and look ahead to a fruitful and more optimistic 2025. Happy holidays to all of those who celebrate.
Roy Goodall
A holiday message from our CEO
Dear members,
As we wind down 2024, I’m keen to look ahead to our exciting plans for 2025, but I’m also mindful of all we’ve accomplished this year. Throughout this past year, we’ve focused on what matters most: you, our valued members.
As an advocacy-first organization, we can’t accomplish anything without the heft of many voices, and for that, I thank each and every one of you for being a member and putting your trust in us. Our Association has a powerful voice because of you. I am proud of our industry-leading membership retention rate that tells us, year after year, you’re committed to what we’re doing, how we are defending your pensions, benefits and interests and what we stand for. We are an important safeguard for your public service pensions and your hard-earned benefits, and we intend to keep it that way.
Some of this year’s many highlights included holding meetings with many members of Parliament, having a productive annual meeting of members and helping thousands of members with the Public Service Health Care Plan transition from Sun Life to Canada Life, along with the subsequent transition of the Pensioners Dental Services Plan. We also carried out some very productive work with the International Longevity Centre Canada and the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on Ageing toward making the case for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
This autumn, we launched the first of our many research projects that will help guide our evidence-based advocacy in the future. We asked the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to conduct a study on the impact of pensions on Canada’s economy. The report’s rich findings will inform retirement income defence campaigns, including those we are planning in the face of the 2025 federal election.
Your trust in the Association means everything to us. This holiday season, I would be grateful if you would consider the benefit of being a Federal Retirees member, share that with colleagues or former colleagues and refer them to the Association. There is strength in numbers and those numbers will help us become more influential.
Warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season from our entire team.
Anthony Pizzino