Newsletter of the Retirees’ Association of Queen’s             October 2019           Vol 18     No 1  

President’s Report

This newsletter edition outlines, in the individual reports, the activities that have occupied Council in the past few months, projects making RAQ a more efficient organization and bringing new opportunities to its members.  

Over the summer, an ad hoc policy review committee has consolidated past Council decisions and begun to produce a policy handbook that will guide future Councils.  In addition, Diane Kelly, our new Vice-President, has started a review of our constitution.  She and our Administrator have met with the Queen’s Privacy Officer to assess our privacy policy and to bring it into line with the Queen’s policy.  Diane and another small group have negotiated an exciting travel opportunity for RAQ members.  Look for the announcement of the tour “Greece — a Journey to Fabled Places” for information about how to sign up.

The Pension and Benefits report will bring good news for Queen’s retirees. In a contract with a new benefits provider for Queen’s employees, retirees will have opportunities for additional coverage not available in the current arrangements.    The report will give you details.

Those of you who have read the new Principal’s letter in the September 28 edition of the Gazette, “A Conversation “ with the Community”, will want to attend RAQ’s New Members’ Reception at the University Club on November 5 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Dr. Deane will be our speaker at this event and you can read his letter at:  (https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/conversation-community?utm_source=e-queens-gazette_faculty&utm_medium=e-newsletter).  Come and meet the principal, or renew your relationship with him, and hear what he has to say about his vision for Queen’s.

The RAQ Council continues to work to represent you in negotiations with the university and to bring you new opportunities for association with your colleagues.  I hope you will enjoy your participation in some of the many activities available.

Eleanor Rogers, RAQ President

Pension and Benefits Report

University Pension Plan

In July, the required consent threshold for the existing pension plans at Queen’s, Guelph and Toronto was surpassed so conversion to the University Pension Plan (UPP) is going ahead. Approval from each of the university governing boards is required and then application will be made to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to transfer assets and liabilities from the existing pension plans to the UPP. We understand that the Queen’s Board of Trustees will give the necessary approvals at it’s meeting in December.

As mentioned in our May report, there will be no impact on pensions for existing retirees.

Queen’s Pension Plan News

The pension plan return in August was 0.3% and the return for the full 12 months was 2.3%. As a result, a number of retirees will receive a very modest increase in pension – perhaps in the order of 0.5%. However, those retirees who started their pension in 2007-08 will not yet see an increase.

In November, Pension Services will send a letter to each pensioner with details on the 2019 Annual Pension Adjustment.

Benefit News

As mentioned in our last Newsletter, Human Resources sent out a Request for Proposals to a number of insurance providers in the spring. After reviewing the responses, Queen’s has decided to appoint Manulife as the new employee and retiree benefits provider. The change from Great-West Life will occur in the spring of 2020. Until then, there will be no changes to the existing benefit plan coverages or to the submission process.

When the new contract is in effect, there will be some new features for retirees. Details on these changes were provided by Steve Millan, Associate Vice-Principal (Human Resources) and these can be found on the RAQ web site. In addition, there will be an article on the change in the benefits provider in a future issue of the Queen’s Gazette.  A Frequently Asked Questions is available on the HR website:  http://www.queensu.ca/humanresources/employee-benefits-plan-review

Bill Forbes, Chair, RAQ Pensions & Benefits Committee