History
BCE went through a number of sales, divestitures and downsizings in the 1990s
which resulted in the termination of employment of a significant number of
employees. For those employees who were affected by the downsizings, pension
accruals and membership in the Pension Plan ceased. In connection with these
downsizings and sales, BCE implemented three "partial wind ups" of the Pension
Plan. The three partial wind ups are further described as follows:
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Effective December 31, 1993, the Pension Plan was partially wound-up as a
result of the closure of Bell Canada International's office (BCI) in Ottawa and
the transfer of those operations to an affiliate, BCE Telecom International;
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Effective October 15, 1996, the Pension Plan was partially wound-up as a result
of the sale of part of the Bell Sygma operations to ISM/IBM Canada. Bell Sygma
was a participating employer in the Pension Plan at the time; and
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Effective December 31, 1999, the Pension Plan was partially wound-up further to
the sale of Bell Sygma to CGI Stet. CGI acquired the former Bell Sygma in July,
1998 and became a participating employer in the Pension Plan for a period of
time. CGI subsequently terminated participation in the Pension Plan (except
with respect to a certain group of employees who would have been eligible to
retire with an unreduced pension by December 31, 2005).
In July, 2004 the Supreme Court of Canada in the "Monsanto" decision
determined that when a pension plan is partially wound up in Ontario, any
surplus remaining in the pension plan that is attributable to the portion of
the plan affected by the partial wind up must be distributed from the plan to
the rightful beneficiaries. The Monsanto case dealt with pension benefits
covered by Ontario pension legislation. As a result of this Court decision, BCE
is required to deal with the distribution of surplus assets attributable to the
Ontario portion of the three partial wind ups. It is because of the Monsanto
case that the Committee is looking to settle the surplus issues pertaining to
all three partial wind up groups.
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