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Watertoo Chronicle office is located on Z2nd Roo: of the O.W. Sports budding opposite Jal 2l 24 0A oo Gincle d otnedindbrrmeter * sitaiinrber /vidunriiel YELLie . 4 Mu-&mwmfiuunwmuâ€"- Opan Manday in Frday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. * . B e â€"The Rent Review Act has been extended to Decemâ€" ber 31. 1978 and landlords may charge only one inâ€" crease in a 12â€"month period. This applies to an inâ€" crease authorized by a Rent Review order or to an increase within the guideline limit that can be chargâ€" ed by a landlord without going to Rent Review. * e Any proposed increase must be based on the last rent lawfully charged before the increase takes efâ€" 1( Comment To the Editor : 1 have enclosed a newly published booklet on Onâ€" tario‘s Rent Review Program and would be grateful if you could advise your‘readers that it is now availâ€" able to anyone calling or writing to our Rent Review Office in Kitchener. ‘The booklet contains valuable information for landâ€" lords and tenants, many of whom may not know about recent changes to the Residential Premises Rent Review Act. Some of the highlights are as follows: e On October 27, the guideline for rent increases was lowered from 8 to 6% to conform with the guideâ€" line for wage increases set by the Federal Governâ€" ment‘s Antiâ€"Inflation Board. Landlords seeking rent increases above 6% must now apply for rent review. Tenants may apply for review of any increase. fect. e Tenants wishing to apply for rent review must do so within 60 days of receiving notice of the proposed inâ€" crease. e It is now an offence to charge or attempt to charge more than one rent increase during a 12â€"month period ; to collect rent in excess of the amount ordered by the Rent Review Officer or the Appeal Board, or to refuse to file an application when ordered to do so by a Rent Review Officer. e Summary conviction of these offences could result in a fine of up to $25,000 for corporations or $2,000 for individuals. The penalty provisions remain in force beyond December 31, 1978 to ensure compliance with the legislation. D.L. Hellier Senior Inquiry Officer The issue of indexing pensions is not a real grabber yet. If the Public Service Alliance has its way it will become a major issue in the next Federal election. They sponsored a meeting on Monday of this week in Kitchener ~s part of a campaign to maintain the inâ€" dexed pensions which they have enjoyed since 1973. It would seem that they recognize that politically they presently occupy an unfavourable position in that they receive better pensions than is generally available to people working in the private sector. In order to proâ€" tect their plan their campaign will be to obtain inâ€" dexed pensions for people in the private sector as well. As the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Waterloo riding, I was invited to participate in the meeting and 1 was pleased to have that opportunity to learn something about the problem. Max Saltsman, M.P. also addressed the gathering. However, we were bit players. The main protagonist was Bill Doherty, the Vice President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The main antagonist was Colin Brown, spokes man for the National Citizens Coalition. This organiâ€" zation has been campaigning against indexed pensions. At the very least, Mr. Brown demonstrated great courage in attending Monday night‘s meeting and adâ€" dressing it. The format was not established to advance his views, although the audience was polite to him. As you might expect, this is a rather emotional issue and there were extreme statements on both sides. The Public Service of Canada has a better pension than any other major group in Canada. To the extent that they pay a larger portion of their salary towards their own pension, they are entitled to it. At the presâ€" ent time, the Government contribution to the pension â€" Watrerloo Chronicle, Wednesday , December 28, 1977 ‘ctleo chwronlele _ a division of Ki address corvespondence to Waterioo office nmuu.vm.ou.,mun subscriptions: $10 a year in Canada. $12 a year in United States and Foreign Countries. Yours sincerely, Advertising Manager: Woligang Urschel 195 Fairway Rd. 5. , Kitchener, Out. Publisher: James M. Boland is not unreasonable in comparison to the contribution of employers in the private sector. The Public Service has a commitment from the Government of Canada to index its pension. They are alarmed at the prospect of their pension being effectively reduced by inflation. they will fight to avoid giving it up. At the present time no political party in Canada is advocating abolâ€" ishing indexed pensions. However, the question of the actuarial soundness of the plan has been referred to an independent firm of actuaries. This report which will be known as the Tominson â€" Alexander Report was expected to be delivered before now. Some cynics now expect it will not be released until after the next elecâ€" tion. All major political parties are awaiting its recâ€" ommendations before establishing their policies. Unâ€" doubtedly it will be necessary to make some adjustâ€" ments to the existing plan, The Public Service campaign will be to ask the Government to take over all pensions in Canada and provide indexing for all. Everyone‘s pension would thus be protected against inflation. I am sure everyâ€" one agrees that that is a desireable result. The quesâ€" tion is at what cost and who will pay? The concern of the Citizens Coalition and of some economists and actuaries in the country is that the cost of indexed pensions will fall very heavily on future generations. The Public Service pensions are not truly ‘"funded"‘. Whereas private pensions accuâ€" mulate capital from individuals‘ contributions, the Federal Government just makes a book entry and creates a credit for payments deducted from salaries of Federal civil servants. Similarly, no interest is earned and paid. A book entry is made by the Governâ€" //CZ% COULDYE BEEN _ WORSE.. 1 COUDYVE BEEN 1929... ment in crediting interest to these funds. In effect, no fund is being accumulated and invested. The monies are simply treated as part of the Consolidated Revâ€" enue Fund. This means that future indexed pension payments will be made out of general funds of the Government. To the extent that inflation exceeds exâ€" pectations, taxpayers of the future will pick up the difference. If the "fund" is not sufficient, tax dollars will pay the indexed share. With birth rates dropping dramatically in the country and the post war baby boom approaching retirement thirty years hence, the country could be faced with a very large retired popuâ€" lation and a rather small working population supportâ€" ing all those who have retired. We do not want to imâ€" pose this inequity upon our children and grandchildren In effect, it is impossible to accurately fund a pension program which has been indexed simply beâ€" cause we cannot predict or control the rate of inflaâ€" tion. Therefore, private pension plans cannot be indexâ€" ed. The answer of the Public Service Alliance and of the NDP is to have all pensions taken over by the Govâ€" ernment of Canada. It cannot go broke. It has the power of taxation. To me that is not an acceptable answer. I do not expect any political party will adopt a policy abolishing existing indexed pensions in the public service. I do expect that an adjustment will be required after the Tominson â€" Alexander Report has been studied. A number of alternatives may be conâ€" sidered, including imposing a limit on the size of inâ€" dexed pensions or increasing the amount of employee contributions to more closely meet the anticipated real cost by Rich Hobson