OTTAWA — A former public servant, Paméla Marchand, is advocating for significant reforms to pension regulations for employees who are forced to retire early due to work-related injuries. Marchand served as a corrections officer for Correctional Service Canada for 15 years before facing medical retirement at the young age of 39.
Her early departure from the workforce was precipitated by a psychological injury sustained as a result of workplace harassment from colleagues. Marchand expressed that this ordeal not only ended her career prematurely but also robbed her of the chance to reach the requisite 25 years of service, which is the benchmark for frontline workers to retire without penalty.
As a result of her forced exit from the job, Marchand indicates she experienced a loss of salary increases, hindered career progression, and, quite notably, missed out on the pension benefits that would have accumulated over a more extended career. She poignantly stated, “A person who becomes disabled because of their work should not, in addition to losing their ability to work, suffer a permanent loss of the pension rights they would otherwise have continued to accumulate."
Marchand highlights the discrepancies in pension protections that can arise from the varying employment domains within the province of Quebec. She noted that while two correctional officers may sustain occupational injuries, their pension rights could be vastly different based on whether they work for the provincial government or the federal government.
In light of her experiences, Marchand has initiated a petition that aims to reform current pension rules. The petition focuses on ensuring that any recognized occupational disability would grant employees immediate access to their pensions without incurring penalties, in addition to allowing continued contributions to their retirement savings. Furthermore, it seeks to ensure that employer contributions persist during instances of severe and prolonged disability and calls for federal policies to better align with provincial workers’ compensation systems.
Marchand hopes that the government will conduct a thorough examination of the interplay between the various systems and strive to establish clear protections for federal employees whose careers are cut short due to occupational disabilities. She has garnered substantial support, with her petition collecting over 1,140 signatures to date. It is scheduled to be presented in the House of Commons by NDP MP Don Davies on October 7.
In response to the petition, Davies emphasized the significance of sponsoring petitions as a means for Members of Parliament to facilitate citizen feedback to Parliament, clarifying that such sponsorship does not necessarily equate to an endorsement of the petition's content. He expressed his intent was to provide a platform for workers to voice their concerns about perceived inequities in pension calculations for those who are disabled due to occupational injuries.
This rallying call for reform reflects a broader need for systemic change regarding the treatment and rights of disabled workers within Canada's employment landscape.
