In his latest president’s letter, Roy Goodall offers a bird’s-eye view of the year so far and discusses what it means to be your PSHCP pensioner representative.
This is my first opportunity to communicate with all members of our Association our productive and collegial annual meeting of members (AMM) in late June. I was heartened by the fulsome level of respectful discussion by all as well as the resulting decisions.
In addition to Association business, the AMM is also a time to thank volunteers, and single out some exceptional ones at the annual awards ceremony. The members who were recognized came from various parts of the country, but all had one thing in common — their dedication to our organization and our core goals, namely, to protect members ‘pensions and ensure a safe, healthy and secure retirement for our members and all Canadians.
Also at the AMM, we elected four new board members and said goodbye to four long-serving members. Our new board members — Brenda Teed (Atlantic), Pierre Bilodeau (Quebec), Dan Butler (Ottawa & Nunavut) and Scott Hodge (B.C. & Yukon) — have hit the ground running and I look forward to working with them. (Read more about each of them in Association News on page 34.) I also want to thank our outgoing members for their hard work over many years. Thank you to Megan Williams (Atlantic), Jacques Lambert (Quebec), Daniel Brunet (Ottawa & Nunavut) and Brian Strongman (B.C. & Yukon).
The advent of summer also brought our transition of the Public Service Health Care plan (PSHCP) from Sun Life to Canada Life, which has been a significant undertaking. A full 78 per cent of the PSHCP members who must complete the positive enrolment process did so by July 1. We have shared information digitally and on paper, but there have been challenges with the positive enrolment experience. Federal Retirees has received an average of 300 emails and phone calls per week and has taken more than 5,000 inquiries, including more than 3,500 calls and 1,500 emails.
As some of you will know, I am the PSHCP pensioner representative and I‘ve escalated these concerns to the PSHCP partners committee. We expect Treasury Board and Canada Life to resolve these issues promptly. Rest assured we will continue to advocate for all of our members‘ needs on this file.
It‘s worth noting that the Pensioners Dental Service Plan will likewise be transitioning from Sun Life to Canada Life on July 1, 2024, and we will push to ensure a much better member experience.
Meanwhile, work is progressing on the Association‘s next strategic plan. The board engaged a consulting firm to guide it and staff members through the evolution of the plan. Two meetings have been held and a third is scheduled. Soon, branches will be asked for their views on Association goals and priorities. A question branches and the board will consider is: “How do we want to deliver services to our members?” The September board meeting will consider terms of reference, process and the composition of a special committee on the Association‘s organizational structure. The committee will include six branch presidents and three board members who are able to commit to serving for 18 months.
Finally, the Government of Canada Charitable Workplace campaign kicks off in September. We are working with Public Services and Procurement Canada on this.
I‘m proud to say that federal retirees account for a significant proportion of the overall campaign and many charities and Canadians are hurting as inflation is still eroding living standards. We are fortunate to have pension indexation protection and I‘m not surprised that many of you are sharing that good fortune with the charities of your choice.
Finally, I‘d like to salute our 60th anniversary as an association. We‘ve been celebrating all year, but the official day is Oct. 14.