C-46 , 41st Parliament, 1st session Thursday, June 2, 2011, to Friday, September 13, 2013

The Library of Parliament does not prepare Legislative Summaries for bills debated under urgency and emergency. The following is a short summary:

Clauses 475 to 514 of Bill C-45, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 and other measures, as originally proposed, would have amended the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, proposing several changes to the pension regime for members of Parliament. On 19 October 2012, through unanimous consent, the House of Commons passed an order extracting those clauses from Bill C-45, and creating a new bill, Bill C-46, An Act to amend the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act. As part of this order, Bill C-46 was deemed to have passed all legislative stages in the House.

The changes to the pension regime in what is now Bill C-46 include a change in the rates at which a member of Parliament contributes to his or her pension benefits, such that not later than 1 January 2017, the total amount of contributions to be paid by members will increase to meet 50% of the current service cost of benefits payable. Amendments also raise the retirement age of members from 55 to 65, with reductions in compensation allowances for members who claim them prior to the age of 65. A member is not eligible to receive an allowance earlier than his or her 55th birthday. The rate of interest credited to the pension accounts for members changes from approximately 10.4% to a quarterly rate set out in the most recent valuation report for this Act under section 9 of the Public Pensions Reporting Act. The allowances payable to former Prime Ministers who cease to hold the office of Prime Minister after 31 December 2012 are decreased from two-thirds of annual remuneration to 3% of earnings per year of service as Prime Minister, while the age of retirement for former Prime Ministers holding office after 6 February 2012 rises to 67. Bill C-46 also contains certain transitional amendments, as well as amendments to coordinate allowances with pension benefits paid under the Canada Pension Plan or under a similar provincial pension plan.