Since the last update in September, Mr. Bennett has signified that he will be carrying on with his appeal to the Court of Appeal. His written materials were filed with the Court in December of 2011, and January of 2012.

The parties who appeared before Judge Dovell in the Court of Queen's Bench (including CIC, on behalf of the Capital Pension Plan) are now entitled to file written responses to those submissions. Once all of these written materials have been filed with the Court of Appeal, it will set an appeal date (in Saskatoon) where the appeal will be heard. That appeal is open to the public.

Notification of the appeal date (which will likely not be until mid- to late-2012) will be provided on this website, once it is set by the Court of Appeal.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

Over the last number of months, the parties have held discussions to determine if there was a way to avoid having this case proceed to the Court of Appeal. Unfortunately, it does not at this time appear that an agreement is possible, given the differing interests that each group represents.

Therefore it would appear that if Mr. Bennett wishes to continue to appeal, the case will have to go ahead before the Court of Appeal, which will in all likelihood not be finally concluded for close to 12 months.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

On November 1, 2010, the Court Application went ahead before Judge Dovell, as referenced in earlier updates. Prior to the hearing, Mr. Bennett advised that he would not be seeking payment of his legal fees in advance of being appointed a representative, so that argument was not made. Instead, the sole question before the Judge was whether Mr. Bennett should be appointed as a representative of the other members, for the purposes of the appeal.

While the Court did not make a final ruling on this point, the Court was not prepared at this time to appoint Mr. Bennett as a representative. The Court felt that having issued its previous decision, it no longer had any ability to make a decision in the case. Mr. Bennett will have to apply again to the Court of Appeal.

Instead of dismissing the application completely, however, Judge Dovell encouraged the parties to discuss further amongst themselves whether there was a way in which the issue could be resolved without further Court proceedings. The parties are currently holding those discussions.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

Since the last update on October 2, 2009, the court case has moved very slowly. The Plan member who filed the appeal, Mr. Evan Bennett, is seeking to be appointed by the Court as a representative on behalf of all members or former members of the Plan who were not employed by a contributing employer as of January 1, 1994, and who are therefore not entitled, according to the Court's ruling, to a share of the surplus.

Mr. Bennett made an application to the Court of Appeal on June 14, 2010, to receive such status. However, the Court dismissed that application, ruling that it should first be brought before the original Judge who heard the case, Madam Justice Dovell. Mr. Bennett has since filed such an application, which is to be heard by the Court of Queen's Bench on Monday, November 1, 2010, at 10:00 am. To be decided at that time is whether Mr. Bennett is to be appointed a representative of the other members so that the appeal can go forward on that basis, and also whether Mr. Bennett's legal fees for the Court applications are to be paid out of the pension plan surplus at this time.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

On September 30, 2009, CIC was served with a Notice of Appeal seeking to overturn Judge Dovell's decision. The appeal has been filed by a Plan member who is dissatisfied with Judge Dovell's decision, and in particular the Court's decision to limit the distribution of the surplus only to members or former members employed by employers who contributed to the surplus in the first place. The appeal will also challenge the court's selection of January 1, 1994 as the cut-off date for eligibility to share in the surplus. A copy of the Notice of Appeal can be found here: (Notice of Appeal).

The appeal will be heard by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, likely some time in 2010. Under the Court of Appeal Rules, a party (such as CIC) is prohibited from carrying through with the lower Court's decision until the appeal has been heard and finally decided. Therefore, CIC cannot make any payments or distribution of surplus until the appeal is decided. It is expected that this process will take a minimum of six months, and quite possibly longer.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

On June 11, 2009, the parties returned to court to clarify several issues arising from the Court's Preliminary Directions (see below for a link to the Preliminary Directions). At that time, CIC provided a draft of the distribution schedule for the surplus distribution, which was accepted by the Court.

At the conclusion of the hearing, after providing the clarifications requested, the Court asked CIC to prepare a draft Order of the Court, confirming the directions it has given, and to circulate the draft Order to the other parties for review.

That was done, and the draft Order was confirmed by the other parties. Accordingly, the Court has now issued its binding Order, providing CIC with the general directions it requested as to how the surplus is to be distributed. A copy of the Court's final Order can be found here (Final Order).

As set out in the Order itself, the only notification of the Order that CIC is required to provide to members and former members is through posting the Order on this website.

There are no further court applications contemplated at this time. The next steps are for CIC to begin the process of distributing the surplus. This is expected to take several months. The Court has given permission to the parties to return to the Court for clarification, should any questions arise in distributing the surplus.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

On April 7, 2009, the Court issued certain preliminary directions to guide the parties as to next steps. It is important to note that these directions are preliminary only, and may be subject to change. A further Court hearing has been scheduled for the parties to obtain and provide further information to the Court. Two main preliminary directions have now been issued by the Court.

The first main preliminary direction which the Court has given to CIC is that the surplus is only to be distributed to the employees of the employers who contributed to the surplus in the first place (in 1986). As set out below on this website (see "Details of the Court Application"), there were approximately 27 employers who created the surplus.

The second significant preliminary direction is that the "cutoff" date for eligibility to share in the surplus is January 1, 1994. This means that, subject to some further directions from the Court, and with the exception of Cameco employees and non-electing PCS Inc. employees (see below), the surplus will be distributed only to employees who were employed on January 1, 1994 by one of the contributing employers. Employees of those employers who left their employment before January 1, 1994, or who began their employment after January 1, 1994, will not be entitled to share in the surplus, according to the Court. For Cameco employees, the only difference is that the relevant date is July 1, 1993, when Cameco withdrew from the Plan. For non-electing employees at PCS Inc. (i.e. those PCS Inc. employees who left their pension funds in the CIC Pension Plan when PCS Inc. set up its own pension plan), the only difference is that the relevant date is the date of PCS Inc.'s withdrawal from the CIC Pension Plan in 1993.

The Court has also ruled that the legal fees and expenses for the application for the legal counsel that have appeared to date are to be paid from the surplus. Another preliminary direction given was that at this time, the ad hoc payment which was made to annuitants from the Retirement Annuity Fund should not be taken into account in calculating the surplus entitlement for those individuals.

The Court has directed that CIC prepare a proposed schedule of surplus distribution, based upon the directions given thus far. A further Court date has been scheduled for Thursday, June 11, 2009, commencing at 9:00 o'clock a.m. at the Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon. Like all previous Court hearings, this hearing is open to the public, and individuals may attend and be heard, if desired.

A copy of the preliminary directions can be found here: (Preliminary Directions pdf).

As this is not yet a final ruling, but is preliminary only, CIC will not be able to answer telephone inquiries until the matter is finalized by the Court.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

The court application went ahead on Thursday, November 13, 2008, and was completed the same day. The case was heard by Madam Justice M. Dovell in Saskatoon and legal counsel were present on behalf of CIC, Cameco and SGI (and certain other employers). Present in court as well were several individuals, two of whom made verbal representations to the court.

The 9 issues which CIC required directions on (see June 26, 2008 update below) were explained to the Judge, and all parties had a chance to respond and provide their views.

The hearing took most of the day, but the second day was not required.

The Judge has "reserved" her decision, meaning that she will take time to consider all of the written and verbal arguments made, and then provide her decision in writing. All written submissions made by members or former members have been placed before the Judge for her review.

There is no set time limit for the court decision to be provided. Given the complexity of the case and numerous issues, it is not likely that this decision will be handed down until sometime in the New Year. When that occurs, the decision will be public, and placed on this website for individuals to review.

As directed by the Court on June 12, 2008, CIC on October 1, 2008 filed its Written Submissions regarding the main court application, which as set out below has been set for Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 10:00 am, and continuing if necessary on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 10:00 am.

A copy of CIC's Written Submissions which have been filed with the Court can be found here: Applicant's Written Submissions Respecting the Main Application.

In addition, a Supplementary Affidavit of Ken Klein has also been filed with the Court, updating the court on events since the last affidavit was filed in February of 2008. A copy of that affidavit can be found here: Second Supplementary Affidavit of Ken Klein. (Note: Exhibits referred to in the affidavit are not included as they may contain information that could personally identify current or former Plan members).

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

The third court hearing was held on June 12, 2008 in Saskatoon. At that time, CIC requested of the Court that a final hearing date be set so that all issues in the application as to how to distribute the surplus could be argued, and all interested parties could be heard. After hearing from legal counsel on behalf of certain employers and former employers, the Judge agreed to do so. Therefore, the final hearing date for the application has been set for Thursday November 13, 2008 at 10:00 am, and continuing if necessary on Friday November 14, 2008 at 10:00 am.

However, the Court has also set a deadline for filing written materials, with the Court, being Wednesday, October 1, 2008. Therefore, any party who wishes to file any written materials to be considered by the Court in making its decision must provide those materials to CIC or the Court by this date. If you have already sent written materials, you do not need to re-send them.

That court hearing, like the others, is open to the public and any interested member or former member to attend, either to observe, or to make oral arguments to the Court.

At that hearing, the Court will be asked to give directions to CIC on several questions regarding how the surplus is to be distributed, and to whom. A list of the questions which CIC will be asking the Court on that date can be found here: Issues Requiring Directions from the Court

A letter will be sent to all members and former members with this information, and further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

The second court hearing was held on April 11, 2008 in Saskatoon. At that time, the Judge heard from legal counsel on behalf of CIC, and legal counsel on behalf of certain employers and former employers, as to the various groups of members or former members who would be affected by the court application. CIC provided a written submission to the Court, suggesting that there were 16 or 32 possible such groups. A copy of CIC's written material can be found here: Written Submissions of the Application Respecting Proposed Groupings of Affected Members.

After hearing from the parties on the issue of groupings, the Judge then asked questions about the process of hearing the court application. There were some different views, ranging from having one hearing to deal with all issues at once, or a series of hearings dealing with individual threshold issues. The Court asked legal counsel to attempt to come to some agreement on the process for the court to follow for scheduling the hearings, and to return and present that to the Court on Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. The court hearing, like the others, is open to the public and any interested member or former member is entitled to attend.

No decision will be made at that time as to the distribution of the surplus. Instead, the court will decide on the process for the hearing(s), and the dates of those hearings. Given the court's current backlog of cases, those hearings will likely not be held until the fall of 2008. Members will be notified of the date of the hearings once they are set by the court.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

The initial court application was held in Saskatoon on February 15, 2008. No decisions were made at that time. Instead, the Judge heard the background information regarding the application and asked the parties return to Court on Friday, April 11, 2008. The Judge asked the parties to prepare a listing of the various groups of members and former members and employers and former employers that may be affected by the application, and present it to the Court at that time.

Therefore, the purpose of the Court hearing on April 11, 2008 will only be to discuss the various groups affected by the application. No decision will be made at that time to the distribution of the surplus. It is anticipated that the Court hearing will be adjourned on that date to early June 2008, when the Court may then be in a position to hear the full arguments regarding the application.

Further updates will be provided on this website when they become available.

The purpose of this website is to provide information regarding a Court application being made to distribute certain surplus money from the pension plan to certain individual members (and former members) of the pension plan.

The Capital Pension Plan has approximately $6.6 million in reserve funds accumulated in the Retirement Annuity Fund. The Capital Pension Plan has brought an application to the Court of Queen's Bench to obtain advice and directions from the Court as to which current and former members should receive a share of the reserve funds, and in what amount.

These reserve funds ARE NOT associated with the account balances of any member of the Capital Pension Plan and WILL NOT adversely impact the balances or earnings of any member of the Capital Pension Plan or the Capital Variable Benefit.

The distribution of these reserve funds WILL NOT adversely impact the pensions of any current or future annuitant in the Retirement Annuity Fund operated by the Capital Pension Plan.

Details of Court Application

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When an employee of an employer who contributed to the pension plan left their employment before their pension had vested (generally, before two years), that employee would receive a return of all the pension contributions he/she had made, plus earnings on those contributions. However, the pension contributions which had been made by the employer were not returned to either the employer or the employee, but instead were set aside in a separate account of the Plan. Over the years, these contributions grew to create the current surplus.

In 1995, a lawsuit was started by PCS Inc. against the Crown Investments Corporation ("CIC"), who is the plan sponsor and administrator of the Capital Pension Plan. PCs Inc. was an employer who contributed to the Capital Pension Plan on behalf of its employees. When PCs Inc. was privatized, it withdrew from the Capital Pension Plan and started its own pension plan. PCs Inc. employees were given the option to either remain with the Capital Pension Plan or transfer their current equity to the new pension plan. Approximately 73% chose to withdraw from the Capital Pension Plan and transfer their equity to the new pension plan.

At that time, PCs Inc. asked for a proportionate share of that surplus to be transferred as well. The Plan refused, on the basis that the money was to be used for enhancing the Plan in the future, if necessary. PCs Inc. therefore brought a court action, claiming a proportionate share of those surplus moneys.

In May 2003, the Court of Queen's Bench gave a decision in favour of PCs Inc., ordering the Plan to transfer $853,593.15 (plus interest) from the Capital Pension Plan to the PCs Inc. pension plan, for the benefit of PCs Inc. members who had withdrawn from the Capital Pension Plan. When interest was calculated, the total amount transferred was just over $2 million. A copy of the Court of Queen's Bench decision can be found by clicking here: Court of Queen's Bench decision

The decision was appealed, and upheld by the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan on May 25, 2004. A copy of the Court of Appeal decision can be found by clicking here: Court of Appeal decision

While just over $2 million of the surplus was transferred to PCs Inc., a surplus of approximately $6.6 million remains in the pension plan as of December 31, 2006.

The Plan has an obligation to ensure that the balance of the surplus money is distributed to the appropriate parties. Therefore, it has brought an application to the Court of Queen's Bench to obtain advice and directions from the Court as to which members or former members of the Capital Pension Plan should receive a share of the surplus, and in what amount (together with certain other subsidiary questions).

After the surplus is distributed, there will be no further surplus distributions from the Plan.

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The facts which have been provided to the Court as the basis of the Court application is found in the Affidavit of Ken Klein, Executive Director of the Capital Pension Plan, which can be found by clicking here. Affidavit of Ken Klein

The Court has also issued an order allowing the Originating Notice to be served on all parties by ordinary mail. A copy of that Court Order is here: Order for Substitutional Service

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The initial date for the Court hearing has been set for Friday, February 15, 2008. The hearing will be held starting at 10:00 a.m. (local time) in the Chambers Room (2nd floor) of the Court House, 520 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon Saskatchewan.

It is anticipated that at this initial hearing, the only issue that will be dealt with at that time is the issue of which parties wish to make representations to the Court. It is expected that the Court will then set a later court date for the full hearing of the application. When the application is ultimately heard, the main question the Court will have to decide is whether all members and former members of the Plan between 1979 and December 31, 2006 are to receive a share of the surplus, or whether that surplus is only to be distributed to members or former members of the Plan whose employer contributed to create the surplus. The employers who contributed to the surplus over the years are as follows:

However, no decision on which members or former members of the plan are to receive a share of the surplus has yet been made, and the ultimate decision rests with the Court on this issue.

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Taking Part in the Court Application

As the resolution of these questions by the Court may affect whether a member or former member receives a share of the surplus, and how much that share might be, all potentially interested parties are being given notice of this Court application so they can decide whether they wish to make their views known to the Court.

The court document that has been provided to all parties (the "Originating Notice") begins with the words, "You are required to attend.....", which is simply part of the formal wording of the document. It is not required that you appear in Court if you do not wish to take part in these proceedings. You DO NOT need to be part of the Court application to receive a share of the surplus, if you are found entitled. Once the Court makes its decision, all persons entitled to receive a share as directed by the Court will receive it, whether they appear in Court or not.

However, if wish to take a position as to which members or former members should receive a share of the surplus, then you have the right to make your views known to the court before it renders its decision. You do not have to attend Court, but it is your right if you are interested. If you wish to take part in the Court application, please complete and return the form that has been mailed to you no later than January 31, 2008. If you have not received that form, a copy of it can be found by clicking here on the link below:

Election Form

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