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Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, C.C., C.M.M., C.D.
Governor General of Canada

Excellency:

I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the Report on the Administration of the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act for the Fiscal Year Ended
March 31, 2000.

Respectfully submitted,

The paper version was signed by Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board.

Introduction

The Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (the Act or MPRAA) governs pension arrangements for members of Parliament --members of the House of Commons and senators. Under the Act, the plan also provides a survivor allowance for eligible spouses and children. This report begins with a brief summary of the plan's main provisions and then presents information, for the fiscal year 1999-2000, on the transactions recorded in the pension plan accounts, on membership and benefits paid. Historical data are also included.

In this report, "members" refers to active and retired participants in the plan. Where necessary, members of the House of Commons and senators are referred to separately.

Funding

Accounts

Two accounts are operated under the plan: the Retiring Allowances (RA) Account and the Retirement Compensation Arrangements (RCA) Account.

The RA Account records the transactions related to the benefits payable under the plan when these benefits accord with income tax rules for registered pension plans. The RCA Account records the transactions related to the benefits payable under the plan when the benefits exceed the limits imposed by those tax rules.

Members' contributions

Members of the House of Commons are required to contribute 9 per cent of their sessional indemnities and senators are required to contribute 7 per cent. Some members also receive additional allowances and salaries as speakers, ministers, leaders of the opposition, parliamentary secretaries and so forth. A member must contribute to the plan, based on these additional allowances and salaries, unless a member elects not to make such contributions or to contribute at a lower rate. The prime minister must contribute 7 per cent on the salary paid to him or her as prime minister in addition to the contributions required as a member of the House of Commons. Any member can decide to contribute for prior service in Parliament, in which case the member must pay interest on past service contributions.

Government contributions

Monthly, the government is required to contribute an amount to each account --net of members' contributions --that will fund the costs of all future benefits that members have earned during that month. The government contribution rate for each account varies from year to year and can be expressed as a multiple of members' contributions. The ratios of government contributions to members' contributions for the calendar years 1999 and 2000 were as follows:

Interest

Every quarter, the government credits interest on the balance of each account at a rate set by regulations. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000, the interest rate was 2.5 per cent per quarter.

Future unfunded liabilities

When the government identifies an unfunded liability after it tables a valuation report in Parliament, the government must cover that liability by equal annual credits to the accounts over a period not exceeding 15 years.

Tables 1 to 4 in this report present current and historical data on the RA and RCA accounts.

Allowances and Other Benefits

Annual allowance

Members

Upon ceasing to be a member of Parliament, members are entitled to an annual allowance after they have contributed under the plan for at least six years. For service up to and including July 12, 1995, former members are entitled to an immediate annual allowance. For service after that date, former members are not entitled to an annual allowance until they are 55.

The benefit accrual rate for members of the House of Commons is 5 per cent up to and including July 12, 1995, and 4 per cent per year of service after that date, to a maximum of 75 per cent of the average sessional indemnity.

For senators, the accrual rate is 3 per cent per year for a maximum of 25 years. The amount of the annual allowance is based on the member's average pay for the best six years.

The annual allowance of a retired member is suspended if that person becomes a member again, either as a member of the House of Commons or as a senator. The annual allowance of a retired member of the House of Commons is also suspended if that person starts working for the federal government.

Prime minister

During their tenure as prime minister, incumbents must contribute for at least four years if this service is to be eligible for an allowance. The allowance will be paid once the prime minister is no longer a member of Parliament or is 65 years old, whichever comes later. The allowance is equal to two thirds of the annual salary payable to a prime minister at the time the payment of the allowance begins.

Withdrawal allowance

Some members may get a withdrawal allowance. This is a return of a member's contributions along with interest on those contributions at a rate set by regulations. Members get withdrawal allowances if they do not complete six years of contributory service, if they are expelled from the House of Commons or if they leave the Senate by reason of disqualification.

Survivor allowance

Members

Eligible spouses and children of members may receive an allowance.

For spouses, this allowance is equal to three fifths of the basic annual allowance that the member would have been entitled to receive, or that the retired member was receiving, immediately before his or her death.

If a child is under the age of 18 or is a full-time student between the age of 18 and 25, that child is entitled to a survivor allowance. This allowance is equal to one tenth of the member's basic annual allowance or two tenths if no spousal allowance is being paid.

Prime minister

An eligible surviving spouse receives an allowance equal to one half of the allowance payable to a former prime minister for service as prime minister.

Indexing

Allowances to retired members and survivors are adjusted at the beginning of each calendar year. This adjustment corresponds to the percentage increase in the average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the 12 months ended on the preceding September 30, over the CPI average for the 12 months ended a year earlier.

Indexing payments do not begin until the former member is 60 years old. But once indexing begins, payments reflect the cumulative increase in the CPI since the member left Parliament.

Survivor allowances are indexed immediately based on the date a member left Parliament.

Minimum benefit

When a member or retired member dies, and when there are no survivors entitled to an allowance, then the member's estate receives the amount by which the member's contributions exceed any allowances already paid.

Contributors

At March 31, 2000, there were 399 members contributing under the plan, and one vacant seat in the House of Commons. Tables 5 and 6 in this report present information on the number and distribution of allowances.

¹ A refundable tax equal to 50 per cent of contributions and interest credited to the RCA Account, less 50 per cent of benefits paid out of the account, must be remitted each year to the Canada Custom and Revenue Agency.

Notes

1. In addition to the above allowances, a former member was in receipt of an indexed annual allowance for service as prime minister.

2. The average annual allowance, including indexation, was $35,604 for former members of the House of Commons and $43,789 for former senators.