Alberta Teachers' Association President Jason Schilling. (Supplied by ATA)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Alberta Teachers’ Association to challenge pension order in court

Jan 27, 2021 | 10:38 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Teachers across the province are taking action after the Government of Alberta made a significant change to how their pensions are controlled.

The Provincial Executive Council (PEC) of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has voted unanimously to initiate legal action against Finance Minister Travis Toews’ ministerial order.

As LNN has previously reported, the order imposes an investment management agreement (IMA) on the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund (ATRF) and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).

READ MORE: Teachers want UCP decision on pension reversed

Toews said back in November that “AIMCo will invest according to the policies set by the ATRF board,” but ATA claims that the imposed IMA offers AIMCo a veto on investment decisions that it has sole discretion to use with no ability for ATRF to appeal.

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“This offensive and over-reaching ministerial order, which negates promises made by government officials when passing Bill 22, needs to be stopped and we will turn to the courts to do so,” says ATA president Jason Schilling.

He believes that teachers have been “betrayed” by their MLAs, Toews, and by Premier Jason Kenney.

“We will fight the order in court, but there still needs to be political accountability for the broken promises.”

Schilling is encouraging teachers and retirees to write to their MLAs regarding this issue.