The Federal Superannuates National Association Kingston & District Branch, c/o Box 1172, Kingston, Ontario K7L 4Y8, Telephone 1-613-384-2440 .-. Click on a comment link to express your view on a post. Alert a friend, to a post, by clicking on its envelope icon.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Economic and Fiscal Statement

Staff at FSNA National Office has reviewed the fall 2008 Economic and Fiscal Statement announced yesterday by Finance Minister Flaherty and has identified the following issues relevant to our members.

(The statement is posted on the department's site: http://www.fin.gc.ca/ec2008/pdf/EconomicStatement2008_Eng.pdf)

1. Pension Indexation

Mr. Flaherty's Economic and Fiscal Statement does not include any provisions that affect the previously announced pension indexing (2.5%) that will be applied effective 1 January 2009, nor is there anything in the statement that would change future indexation of superannuation payments to pensioners.

2. Reduction by 25% of required minimum withdrawal amount for RRIFs for 2008.

RRIF holders who withdraw more than the reduced 2008 minimum will be permitted to re-contribute the excess to their RRIFs until the later of March 1, 2009 and 30 days after this proposal is enacted. Re-contributions will be deductible for the 2008 taxation year.

3. Liquidation of RRIF assets in order to satisfy minimum withdrawal requirement

There is no obligation to liquidate assets in order to satisfy the RRIF minimum withdrawal requirement. The income tax rules permit "in-kind" asset transfers to meet the requirements – they do not require the sale of assets. The Government has asked all financial institutions to accommodate the in-kind distribution of assets from a RRIF, as permitted under the tax rules, at no cost to clients, or to offer another solution that achieves the same result.

(The Minister's letter to financial institutions is also posted on the department's site: http://www.fin.gc.ca/news08/08-093e.html)

Randonneurs Ontario

One of our members is looking for assistance for a very interesting and different project this coming Summer. Have a look here

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Election 2008 - Post-Mortem

The FSNA grassroots advocacy machine was put into motion for the 2008 general federal election. And in every province FSNA volunteers responded – not in droves mind you – but they responded!

The strategy undertaken was to engage branches to connect with candidates from the Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Bloc and Green parties of Canada and dialogue about FSNA’s key issues. Support was provided by the national directors (NDs), provincial advocacy officers (PAOs) and the Health Care Research and Advocacy Officer at National Office.

So, how did we do?

Branches across Canada connected with most candidates in 101 electoral districts. Since there are 308 electoral districts, we managed a 32.8% success rate.

Most of the candidates we contacted were sent e-mails with FSNA’s key issues attached. A few FSNA members met face-to-face with the candidates and some members attended all candidates meetings and raised our issues in this forum.

Along with the responses received from the leaders of the Liberal, NDP and Green Parties of Canada (these are posted to www.fsna.com) as a result of a letter from Dennis Jackson to all party leaders, 22 candidates sent individual responses to our key issues.

The goal of our strategy was to raise awareness of FSNA and of the issues of most concern to our members and to build new or maintain existing relationships with key political officials. It is not enough to ask an elected official for support for an FSNA member-supported issue just when it is needed. Building and maintaining relationships over time will increase the likelihood of advocacy success in the future.

In this respect, branch presidents have been asked to follow-up with the elected candidates with a congratulatory letter offering our assistance in the future with respect to seniors issues locally. As FSNA speaks with one voice, any request for feedback should be shared with your ND and PAO to ensure consistent and appropriate messaging.

Overall, the process involved with the 2008 general federal election has highlighted areas for improvement but, more importantly, reinforced that taking full advantage of the knowledge, expertise, network capabilities, and time commitment of FSNA volunteers helps us achieve our goals.

Government Retiree Recruitment Campaign

The brochure and applications for campaign 2008/2009 were mailed to some 270,000 pensioners on Friday September 19, 2008. On Monday September 22, 2008,National Office started to receive enquiries from potential members and the volume has not slowed as of yet. It is still too early to say how many new members we will recruit but things do look promising.

Don’t forget that current members can get involved in this year’s campaign by participating in the member-get-a-member campaign. The fall edition of ON GUARD contains two recruitment cards that current members can give to their colleagues who have yet to join. Please help us increase our membership by handing out these cards and asking your colleagues to join today.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Pension Increase for 2009

The Treasury Board has announced that the increase in indexing to be applied to Public Service, Canadian Forces, and RCMP pensions in January 2009 will be 2.5 per cent.