Support Bill C-481 to do away with mandatory retirement

Mandatory Retirement is Age discrimination

Write to YOUR MP
With CARP E-VOICE you can find and email MP by adding your reasons (some suggestions are given below).

            Even if you wish to retire at 65 or earlier, let those who wish to continue
            have the option to do so.

As Paul Szabo  Liberal MP Mississauga South, ON, said in his speech on Bill - 481, "this bill in no way amends pension plans that organizations have established. Pension benefits and defined pension benefit plans lay out the number of years of service necessary to accrue the vesting that is necessary to get maximum benefits."

            

            It is important that Bill C-481 eventually passes and for that it is
            important to urge your MPs to vote in favour for the following reasons:

1. The Bill, once its provisions become law, will eliminate the discriminatory practice of forcing mandatory retirement upon capable, productive individuals who are currently working in companies and industries in the federal jurisdiction, for the sole reason that those individuals have reached an arbitrary age of retirement determined by their employer; 

2. In a country that should continue to value the professional contribution of its most experienced workers, it makes no sense whatsoever to force those workers to terminate their employment simply because they have reached an arbitrary age of the employers’ choosing, and not for any reason related to the knowledge, skill or capabilities of the individuals;

3. The Bill will have no effect upon professions where mandatory retirement is permissible by reason of bona fide occupational requirement—the Canadian Human Rights Act has an alternative provision that will allow mandatory retirement to continue in such circumstances;

4.  At a time when defined benefit pension plans and other pension plans are suffering from contribution shortfalls and their survival is in jeopardy, it makes no sense whatsoever to force employees who wish to continue working and who wish to continue contributing to the pension schemes to instead stop contributing to these schemes and start drawing benefits from the schemes;

5. The impugned mandatory retirement exemption in the Canadian Human Rights Act was enacted over 30 years ago, at a time when there were labour surpluses and no shortage of younger workers in need of acquiring jobs in the economy; today exactly the opposite is the case—there is a shortage of skilled labour at both ends of the employment spectrum.  Arbitrarily terminating the employment of skilled workers, against their will, creates unnecessary negative effects upon the workforce, including creating professional deficiencies and wholly unnecessary retraining costs;

6. Almost every other jurisdiction in Canada has recognized the counterproductive nature of mandatory retirement, and has repealed the exemptions within their legislative schemes that permit mandatory retirement;

7. The Federal Court has recently found that the mandatory retirement exemption in the Canadian Human Rights Act violates the equality provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (decision 2009 FC 36) ; and

8. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has recently found that the breach of Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by the mandatory retirement exemption in the Canadian Human Rights Act is not justified, pursuant to Section 1 of the Charter, and is of no force and effect (Tribunal decision 2009 CHRT 24).  Unfortunately, decisions of that Tribunal are not binding on other tribunals or upon itself, and as a result every individual whose employment is wrongfully terminated by reason of this offensive provision in the Canadian Human Rights Act is forced to bring a separate complaint before the Canadian Human Rights Commission and take that complaint through adjudication at the Tribunal in order to gain reinstatement of employment;

For all the above reasons, I strongly urge you to contact your Member of Parliament, to vote in favour of Bill C-481. Ask your family members and friends to email MPs.

This is a battle worth fighting to secure your future.