Justin Trudeau Working with the People of Papineau P
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Help Generations help kids generationsfoundation.com O 514-933-8585 APRIL 2009 theseniortimes.com VOL. XXIII N 6 Justin Trudeau Working with the people of Papineau p. 5 I N S I D E Not ready to retire at 82 p. 12 Still learning at 101 p. 15 CBC Radio’s gardener p. 21 ANNUAL GUARANTEED INCOME WITH GROWTH POTENTIAL % Westmount West Island South Shore Minimum $25,000 – NOT A GIC 514-934-0586 514-697-0035 450-321-0215 www.rothenberg.ca Editorial CBC survival trumps private TV woes Conventional media were heading for a revenue million shortfall for the 2009-10 season. The re- crisis when the recent recession made the situa- sult: Up to 80 jobs are being cut from its news di- tion even worse. vision with another 313 to be dropped in sports, In West End Montreal Instead of one pie divided up among print and entertainment and current affairs. And that’s just Luxury Cars at Regular Rates electronic, the Internet and specialty channels the beginning. CBC president Hubert Lacroix came on board, taking increasingly bigger pieces. says a total of about 800 full-time jobs will have to on Request Younger readers and viewers drifted more and go and $125 million in assets sold – a “fire sale” more to online platforms, with a corresponding of our beloved CBC.Locally,Radio Noon is to be Special Attention to the Elderly drop in the perceived value of OId Media. All this cut back by one hour and such powerhouse in- 100% guaranteed has been exacerbated by the financial meltdown. vestigative shows as The Fifth Estate and Market- Here at The Senior Times we are weathering the place will have their budgets sliced. Airport Reservations storm with continuing high readership and ad- Similarly,CTV and Global are threatening to drop vertisers who covet their attention. We do it with- or sell stations and cut local programming because Pick-Up & Delivery out any government subsidy and remain free to of revenue shortfall. They – who were making huge criticize without fear of reprisal. profits when they had less competition – are now [email protected] The CBC, with its superb ad-free radio and tele- asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecom- vision service that, in contrast to CTV and Global, munications Commission (CRTC) to introduce a effectively mirrors our society, faces similar chal- carriage fee for their over-the-air signals. The pro- lenges. CBC’s coverage of the news, both local, na- posal calls for cable and satellite distributors to pay tional and international, is an essential institution, the networks to carry their signals, similar to how our window to Canadian life and world affairs. the distributors currently pay for specialty and pay We denounce in the strongest terms the Harper channels. This would only lead to higher cable fees government’s decision not to make up a $171- for channels that are available for free without cable. It could also increase revenue for these net- works by $200 to $300 million, according to CRTC chair Konrad Von Finckenstein, who says this will not solve conventional TV’s long-term challenges. We are totally against this fee. Private networks, which have been making huge profits, do not de- Fulfilling Needs Senior Residence Passover set-up serve to be bailed out in this way. Let them adjust at Every Stage as best they can. • Retirement lifestyle of distinction & quality • Round-the-clock Personal services & property care Home organization, shopping and more Meanwhile, we again urge the government to in- caregiving by full nursing staff • Quality service • Luxurious crease its support for CBC because this is a tower- accommodations • Recreational programs • At-home atmosphere Eileen Ornstein 514-941-1823 [email protected] ing achievement of our country that is essential to our intellectual enrichment. 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(Corner Bishop) House calls available [email protected] 514-481-9609 Call for details 6767 Côte St. Luc Road Tele phon e: 450-6 21-80 72 Entrance via King Edward 514 866-1687 2 April 2009 www.theseniortimes.com THE SENIOR TIMES Nortel and Air Canada retirees facing pension cuts Martin C. Barry in a loss of up to 30 per cent on payout to pensioners if uncorrected. Former employees from two of the “Unfortunately,the federal regulation country’s largest corporations, Air only allows them to have their plan Canada and Nortel Networks, are funded to a certain allotment and over facing a pension crisis most retirees that you no longer get any tax relief,” would regard as the stuff of their he said.“When you’re a corporation, worst nightmares. of course, you’re looking for tax relief, Nortel and Air Canada pensions so you don’t put the money in, and at could end up being cut 30 to 40 per the end of the day you end up with the cent if the companies succeed in con- problems. … These pension holidays vincing Ottawa, during the current should never occur.” economic crisis and corporate restruc- Ritchie agreed that government eco- turing, of their need to be relieved of nomic policy overall in the last three debt, by not topping up their pension Photo: ITLaurian decades has been to view corporations funds with billions of overdue dollars. A demonstration last month at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport as the so-called “engine of the econ- A committee of Nortel pensioners, make up the difference. service,is facing the prospect of having omy” and to prioritize their interests, many of them in Montreal who were In the meantime, Nortel has obtai- to return to work for an indefinite pe- while leaving workers second in line. non-unionized white collar and man- ned bankruptcy court permission to riod, at the age of 58,if $700 is cut from He said Nortel and Air Canada are not agerial personnel, are on the verge of pay more than $52 million in bonuses his $2,400 per month pension cheque alone in seeking to have the outstand- hiring lawyers to proceed with a court to executives and other members of its because Air Canada doesn’t pay up. ing part of their pension obligations case against Nortel’s position. In a senior leadership, under a plan to re- On March 18, as many as 3,500 Air reduced or dismissed. statement, the committee claims their tain key personnel. Nortel sought cre- Canada ground workers staged a He pointed out that a consortium of pensions are “at risk,” since Nortel ditor protection after losing nearly $7 demonstration at Pierre Elliott Tru- six major Canadian corporations, in- filed for protection from its creditors billion since 2005. The company plans deau Airport in protest against ACE cluding Bell Canada, Canada Post, CN in Canada in January and“the Nortel to fire at least 5,000 workers this year Aviation Holdings, the airline’s parent, Rail, CP Rail and MTS Allstream, sub- pension fund is undercapitalized.” as part of a reorganization. which wanted to distribute more than mitted a collective brief during a recent Nortel, previously incorporated as Even though their former employer $400 million in cash reserves to share- nationwide consultation on federal Northern Electric and then Northern isn’t under bankruptcy protection, holders, rather than use it to reduce a fiscal reforms. “They’re saying they Telecom, has about 9,000 non-union- retired Air Canada employees who $3.2 billion pension fund deficit. don’t have the money to do it,”he said. ized pensioners.While it is not unusual belonged to the International Asso- “The way the market went and the Ritchie pointed out that in the last for companies to underfund pension ciation of Machinists and Aerospace way these plans were already under- two years ACE paid out $2 billion to plans,the practice was a source of con- Workers (IAMAW) are facing a sim- funded has created a problem,”Dave its shareholders, and $43 million to tention in labour unions long before ilar concern. Ritchie, vice-president of the IAMAW, Robert Milton, the CEO, but the com- the current economic downturn, and Lloyd Cahill of St. Hubert, who re- said in a phone interview from pany still took no action to service its the companies are now asking the fed- tired from his job as anAir Canada ma- Toronto with The Senior Times.