Exchange of letters between Benefit Reductions at age 65 and Mike Bossio MP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington
Article Content
Military/RCMP Veterans Against CPP Annuity Benefit Reduction at age 65 Or sooner if Disable Exchange of letters between Benefit Reductions at age 65 and Mike Bossio MP for Hastings—Lennox and Addington
VVi 04 Jul 2019 db
Publisher's Comment: Below find an exchange of letters between Benefit Reductions at age 65 and Mike Bossio Member of Parliament for Hastings—Lennox and Addington. At the current time both the Benefit Reductions at age 65 staff and VVi staff are doing more research and RFIs on additional documentation.
---------------------------------------- Benefit Reduction at age 65 Reply------------------------------------
Veterans Standing Together For Tomorrow!
July 3, 2019
Re: Your letter to Vet. Eric Rebiere July 2, 2019 (see below...)
Dear MP Bossio
It is indeed very sad that the Committee and I need to reply, 14 years later, to another MP who continues to twist and stretch the CPP facts.
There is no bridge benefits. A bridge has to connect something of importance that needs to be connected. The fact is that the CPP was established to supplement the Old Age Security Pension Plan, not to claw back our Veterans earned and paid for annuity at age 65. Our forces pension has accumulated a surplus of over 80 billion dollars and the CPP plan is expecting to reach a surplus of $15 Trillion dollars in a few years. More than sufficient funds are available to support our enrolment contract at no cost to the tax payers.
* Prior to the CPP introduction, Forces personnel contributed 8.3% plus 1% for indexing revenues to their pension account. The employer also contributed 9.3% to the employees pension plan. Over contributions or what....
* After completing 38 years in the Military with 20.5 years of operational isolated employment with no over time pay, the Government should look after my well-being. Do you believe that I am the only Veteran with these statistics?
* Who gave the order to terminate our SISIP coverage after release term insurance to terminate at age 75 and force us to purchase another life policy at age 75?
* Thank you to Denis Manuge for taking the Government to court to terminate the claw back to our SISIP disability plan. * Why take credit to re open Veterans Affairs Offices across the Country, it was the strong voice of Veteran Clark that shamed the Government into it.
* When will the Government consider the loss of Spousal income/employment opportunities as a result of the member’s numerous operational moves, leading to the loss of Spousal CPP benefits.
* Why is The Supplementary Death Benefit (SDB) for Public Service employees set at $10,000 while Forces Personnel is set at $5,000.
* In 1966, it was the Liberal party that designed the CPP claw back system and then they ensured that Senators, Members of Parliament and Judges Advocate were exempted the CPP claw back to their pension at age 65 until 2005? * Why are Senators and MP’s Spouse survivor benefit set at 66% of the member’s Annuity and the Forces Spouse only receive 50%?
* Why did Prime Minister Trudeau brake his election promise. Quote: " If I have earned the right to serve this Country as your Prime Minister, no Veterans will be forced to fight their Government for the support and compensation they have earned "
* Why did 54 Former Officers of the rank of Generals and 121 former Colonels signed our petition in support of terminating the CPP claw back? Also listed is the support of over 112,500 Military/RCMP Veterans plus the support of The Legion Dominion Command President with numerous Veterans Military/RCMP Veterans Associations? Have you read our campaign paper?
* During the Liberal 6 and 5 wage and price control, the Government of Canada took a contribution holiday to our Service pension account and never paid it back.
* The Liberal Government under Finance Minister Paul Martin depleted our Canadian Forces Annuity plan by almost 20 billion dollars to pay down the National debt and created a $10 billion dollars Liberal slush fund. Conclusion:
The Liberal Party should not be surprised to hear that today less than 30% of our service personnel are not re-engaging in our Forces. It is a known fact that Forces Personnel are a different Government provider. They often serve without over time pay in numerous 24/7, 16 hours days, far abroad in deplorable conditions with elevated level of stress. Forces personnel are prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice for the security of Canada. The Liberal Leadership has been missing in this past term.
Just 3 months left for a white paper to correct this injustice to Veterans and their Families. Let us remind you that Veterans and their Families make up more than 10% of the Canadian population. Veterans, their Families and Friends are not prepared to vote Liberal again for more broken promises.
---------------------------------------- Mike Bossio Member of Parliament for Hastings—Lennox and Addington Letter-----------------------------------
Hi Eric,
Thank you for your email, and for your service to our country.
I appreciate you letting me know that this is a concern of yours. Mr. Labelle’s service has been invaluable, and I am glad that he was recognized in 2010 by the Veteran’s Ombudsman for his work.
Upon receiving your email, I reached out to my contact in the Ministry to ask about the clawback mentioned in what you forwarded.
What was explained to me was that the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act contains what is known as a bridge benefit. This benefit exists to recognize that members of the Canadian Armed Forces tend to retire earlier than the average Canadian and are ineligible for CPP income until, normally, age 65. The bridge benefit provides CAF annuitants with an income that closely resembles their income once CPP payments begin. Once an annuitant reaches the age of 65 or begins to receive CPP disability pension the bridge benefit ceases, making this a transition measure, rather than a clawback. The total benefit – CFSA plus CPP – approximates 2% per year of pensionable service.
Our Government is committed to the care, health and well-being of our military personnel, veterans, and their families, and I will continue to push our government from within the caucus to ensure that remains the case. I was pleased to see this past month that the House of Commons ended its sitting unanimously committing to address a need within our veterans community to develop a plan to prevent and end veteran homelessness by 2025. This is by no means a problem that each veteran experiences, but to see the commitment from all parties in the House of Commons to address this critical need was encouraging. From investing more than $10 billion in programs that benefit veterans and their families since 2015, to reopening Veterans Affairs offices across the country, increasing mental health supports, and reinstating the Pension for Life program to support veterans for the rest of their lives, we will continue to invest in those who served, and to whom he owe immense gratitude towards. We have so much further to go to ensure our veterans receive the support they deserve, but let’s please not overlook the many accomplishments we have achieved.
Eric, thanks again for your email and you advocacy. If you’d like to discuss this, or any other issue further, I’d be happy to give you a call.
Yours in service,
Mike
Mike Bossio Member of Parliament for Hastings—Lennox and Addington \
Supplement
Eval SOURCE RELIABILITY
Eval INFO CREDIBILITY
6 - Not Judged
COMPONENT
VAC
Source
Military/RCMP Veterans Against CPP Annuity Benefit Reduction at age 65 Or sooner if Disable
OnLine Database