BILL NO. 24

(a) "deficit" means the amount in a fiscal year by which the total of

(b) "fiscal year" means the period from and including the first day of April in one year to and including the thirty-first day of March in the next year.

(2) In clause 8(d) and Section 33, the taxation year is the earlier of

(a) the calendar year in which the annual Estimates are tabled in the House of Assembly do not contain a deficit and the Minister of Finance for the Province provides written notice to the Minister of Finance of the taxation year on or before April 15th of the calendar year; or

(b) the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the annual Estimates are tabled in the House of Assembly do not contain a deficit and the Minister of Finance for the Province provides written notice to the Minister of Finance of the taxation year on or before October 15th of the calendar year.

(a) defining a credit for recipients of the Guaranteed Income Supplement;

(b) prescribing the eligibility criteria and payment amounts for the credit for recipients of the Guaranteed Income Supplement;

(c) prescribing anything necessary or advisable to enable Her Majesty in right of Canada to administer, on behalf of Her Majesty in right of the Province, the credit for recipients of the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

(5) An allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act that commences to be paid to a member or to a surviving spouse or dependant of a member after the thirty-first day of December, 2010, shall be adjusted annually in the same manner and by the same percentage as are superannuation allowances under the Public Service Superannuation Act that commence to be paid after the thirty-first day of December, 2010.

(6) Sections 19A to 19E of the Public Service Superannuation Act apply mutatis mutandis to subsections (4) and (5).

(7) From and after the first day of January, 2011, no allowance under this Act shall commence or continue to be credited with any cost of living adjustment during the period prior to which the allowance commences to be paid.

(8) Any allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act being paid on the thirty-first day of December, 2010, or that commences to be paid after the thirty-first day of December, 2010, shall be adjusted for cost of living in accordance only with subsections (4) to (6) and, notwithstanding any prior enactment or regulation, or any contract, agreement, order or representation relating to, fixing or in any manner referencing a cost of living adjustment applicable to any allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act, the amount of any such cost of living adjustment shall be determined solely in accordance with subsections (4) to (6), and no person shall have or maintain any cause of action or claim against the Province, the Minister or any other person arising from or in relation to any such prior enactment, regulation, contract, agreement, order or representation.

(4) The reference in subsection (1) to "thirty-three and one-third per cent" shall, for a person who first becomes a member on or after the sixth day of April, 2010, be deemed to be forty per cent.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Minister may appoint a replacement Trustee and, in such case, the Minister shall transfer the Minister's powers and duties as Trustee, as established pursuant to this Act and any regulations made hereunder, to such replacement and, upon such transfer, the Minister shall no longer act as the Trustee and shall have no continuing legal liability for the pension plan in the Minister's capacity as sole Trustee of the plan.

(3) Where the Minister appoints a replacement Trustee, the Minister may enter into an agreement with such Trustee regarding their respective roles, responsibilities and obligations, including the shared responsibilities of the Province resulting from a joint participatory interest in such Trustee, or the Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations regarding such roles, responsibilities and obligations.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of Section 3, where the Minister appoints a replacement Trustee, the Minister may appoint a replacement pension plan administrator and enter into agreements relating to that replacement administrator and, upon such appointment, the Department of Finance ceases to be the administrator and has no continuing legal responsibility for the administration of the pension plan.

(5) All employees shall make contributions to the Superannuation Fund as provided for in this Act and the regulations.

(6) All employers with employees contributing to the Superannuation Fund shall make contributions to the Superannuation Fund as provided for in this Act and the regulations.

(7) The Minister may, until a Trustee is appointed by the Minister pursuant to subsection (2), make special payments into the Superannuation Fund in amounts and at times determined by the Minister.

(8) Upon the Minister appointing a replacement Trustee pursuant to subsection (2), no person shall have or maintain any cause of action or claim against the Minister or the Province arising from or in relation to any act or omission by the Minister in the Minister's capacity as sole Trustee of the pension plan occurring at any time prior to the appointment of such replacement Trustee.

(9) Upon the Minister appointing a replacement pension plan administrator pursuant to subsection (4), no person shall have or maintain any cause of action or claim against the Department of Finance, including the Nova Scotia Pension Agency, the Province or the Minister arising from or in relation to any act or omission by the Department of Finance, including the Nova Scotia Pension Agency, as administrator occurring at any time prior to the appointment of such replacement administrator.

3C (1) The accounts and investments of the Superannuation Fund shall be audited annually by the Auditor General or such other auditor as the Minister may from time to time appoint.

(2) Where a replacement Trustee is appointed pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 3B and a replacement pension plan administrator is appointed pursuant to subsection (4) of Section 3B, subsection (1) no longer applies and, notwithstanding anything set out in the Auditor General Act, the Trustee shall annually appoint an auditor who shall audit the accounts and investments of the Superannuation Fund and report to the Trustee.

3D (1) The terms of the pension plan are as set out in this Act and the regulations.

(2) The governance arrangements for the pension plan are as set out in this Act and the regulations, and in such other documents as may be created or adopted from time to time pursuant to this Act or the regulations.

(4) The reference in subsection (1) to "thirty-three and one third per cent" shall, for an employee who first commences employment on or after the sixth day of April, 2010, be deemed to be forty per cent.

(1D) Where in the actuarial valuation report produced as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, or in an actuarial report produced on any fifth anniversary of the date of that report, the funded ratio of the pension plan is above one hundred and ten per cent, the Trustee, with the advice of the plan's actuary and other relevant advisors, shall decrease the contribution rates set out in subsection (1) as considered by the Trustee to be reasonable and equitable, but subject to cost of living increases and any other allocations of surplus funding under Sections 19B or 19C, as applicable, so long as the resulting funded ratio of the pension plan over the immediately following five-year period is not projected to fall below one hundred per cent.

(1E) Notwithstanding subsections (1C) and (1D), where, with the advice of the plan's actuary and other relevant advisors, the Trustee at any time has reason to believe that the funded ratio of the pension plan has, because of the then-current economic situation or other extraordinary circumstances, declined so as to be fifteen percentage points or more below the funded ratio set out in the immediately preceding five-year actuarial valuation report, the Trustee shall increase the contribution rates set out in subsection (1) and make any other changes to the pension plan considered by the Trustee to be prudent and necessary to improve the funded ratio of the plan.

(1F) For greater certainty, the increase in contribution rates and any other changes to the pension plan pursuant to subsection (1E) may be made by the Trustee more than once in any five-year period referred to in subsections (1C) and (1D).

(1G) Notwithstanding subsections (1C) and (1D), where, with the advice of the plan's actuary and other relevant advisors, the Trustee at any time has reason to believe that the funded ratio of the pension plan has, because of the then-current economic situation or other extraordinary circumstances, declined so as to be ten percentage points or more below the funded ratio set out in the immediately preceding five-year actuarial valuation report, the Trustee may increase the contribution rates set out in subsection (1) and make any other changes to the pension plan considered by the Trustee to be prudent and necessary to improve the funded ratio of the plan.

(1H) For greater certainty, the increase in contribution rates and any other changes to the pension plan pursuant to subsection (1G) may be made by the Trustee more than once in any five-year period referred to in subsections (1C) and (1D).

(1I) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Trustee has the sole power to determine employee and employer contribution rates under the pension plan.

(1J) The Trustee shall promptly notify all affected employees and employers of any change to contribution rates determined by the Trustee.

(a) Section 12 ceases to have effect;

(b) subject to any agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 3B, the Minister is only responsible for making those payments to the Superannuation Fund as the Minister as an employer is required to make pursuant to this Act and the regulations; and

(c) subject to any agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (2) of Section 3B, the Minister is not liable to make any supplementary payments for the purpose of meeting any underfunding in the pension plan.

(2) Upon Section 12 ceasing to have effect pursuant to subsection (1), and notwithstanding any contract, agreement, order or representation to the contrary given, made or delivered at any time, no person shall have or maintain any cause of action or claim against the Province, the Minister, the Trustee or any other person arising from or in relation to the cessation of the obligation of the Minister under Section 12 or the failure of the Minister to make any payment contemplated by Section 12.

(8) The reference in subsection (1) to "thirty-three and one third per cent" shall, for an employee who first commences employment on or after the sixth day of April, 2010, be deemed to be forty per cent.

(9) Any reference in subsection (1) to "three qualifying children" shall, for an employee who first commences employment on or after the sixth day of April, 2010, be deemed to be four qualifying children.

(2) A superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act that commences to be paid on or after the first day of January, 2011, and on or before the thirty-first day of December, 2014, shall be increased by 1.25 per cent, or a lesser percentage in accordance with subsection (3) or (4), on the first day of January of the immediately following calendar year, and thereafter the superannuation allowance or other allowance together with accumulated cost of living adjustments made under this Section shall be further increased by 1.25 per cent effective the first day of January in each succeeding year to and including the first day of January, 2015.

(3) For any superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act that commences to be paid on or after the first day of January, 2010, and on or before the thirty-first day of December, 2014, where the date of commencement of payment is other than the first day of January, the 1.25 per cent cost of living increase referred to in subsections (1) and (2), and applicable to the next following first day of January, shall be reduced so as to be proportionate to the part of the calendar year for which the allowance is paid.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to an allowance that commences to be paid to the survivor of an employee in receipt of a superannuation allowance under this Act unless that employee died in the calendar year that the allowance commenced to be paid to the employee, in which case the cost of living increase referred to in subsections (1) and (2), and applicable to the next following first day of January, shall be reduced so as to be proportionate to the part of the calendar year for which an allowance is paid to the employee and the survivor.

19B (1) The cost of living increase, if any, for the period 2016-2020 shall be declared by the Trustee based on the advice of the plan's actuary and the funded ratio of the pension plan as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, as set out in an actuarial valuation report made as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, and to be completed no later than the thirtieth day of June, 2015.

(2) A superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act being paid on the thirty-first day of December, 2015, inclusive of any cost of living adjustments made by that date, shall be further adjusted for the period 2016-2020 based on the Trustee's declared five-year cost of living increase for the period, if any, subject to the following:

(a) where the funded ratio of the pension plan as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, is below one hundred per cent, there shall be no increase for cost of living during the period 2016-2020;

(b) where the funded ratio of the pension plan as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, is at least one hundred per cent and at or below one hundred and ten per cent, the superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act being paid on the thirty-first day of December, 2015, inclusive of any cost of living adjustments made by that date, shall be increased by a percentage, which may include zero per cent, determined by the Trustee based on the actuarial valuation report referred to in subsection (1) and targeted to reduce the funded ratio of the pension plan over the immediately following five-year period to, but not below, one hundred per cent, or by a prorated amount of such percentage in accordance with subsection (5) or (6), effective the first day of January, 2016, and thereafter the superannuation allowance or other allowance together with accumulated cost of living adjustments made under this Act shall be further increased by the same percentage effective the first day of January in each of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020;

(c) notwithstanding clause (b), the Trustee may, for the purpose of prudent management of the pension plan, retain in the plan a reasonable portion of the surplus funding identified in clause (b) to fund a strategic reserve for the benefit of the plan rather than applying the entirety of such surplus funding to cost of living increases;

(d) where the funded ratio of the pension plan as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, is above one hundred and ten per cent, the superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act being paid on the thirty-first day of December, 2015, inclusive of any cost of living adjustments made by that date, shall be increased by a percentage determined by the Trustee based on the actuarial valuation report referred to in subsection (1) and targeted to reduce the funded ratio of the pension plan over the immediately following five-year period to, but not below, one hundred per cent, or by a prorated amount of such percentage in accordance with subsection (5) or (6), effective the first day of January, 2016, and thereafter the superannuation allowance or other allowance together with accumulated cost of living adjustments made under this Act shall be further increased by the same percentage effective the first day of January in each of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020;

(e) notwithstanding clause (d), the Trustee may, for the purpose of prudent management of the pension plan, rather than applying the entirety of the surplus funding identified in clause (d) to cost of living increases, allocate a portion of that surplus funding to

(3) The amount of annual cost of living increase, if any, referred to in subsection (2) and applicable to the period 2016-2020 shall be declared by the Trustee no later than the thirtieth day of September, 2015.

(4) A superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act that commences to be paid on or after the first day of January, 2016, shall

(a) receive no cost of living increase for the calendar years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 if the funded ratio of the pension plan as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, is less than one hundred per cent; or

(b) where the funded ratio of the pension plan as at the thirty-first day of December, 2014, is at least one hundred per cent, be increased by the percentage, if any, determined by the Trustee pursuant to clauses (2)(b) and (c), or clauses (2)(d) and (e), for the period 2016-2020, or a prorated amount of such percentage in accordance with subsection (5) or (6), effective the first day of January of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the allowance commenced to be paid, and thereafter the superannuation allowance or other allowance together with accumulated cost of living adjustments made under this Section shall be further increased by the same percentage effective the first day of January in each succeeding year to and including the first day of January, 2020.

(5) For any superannuation allowance or other allowance under the Act that commences to be paid on or after the first day of January, 2015, and on or before the thirty-first day of December, 2019, where the date of commencement of payment is other than the first day of January, the percentage cost of living increase determined by the Trustee pursuant to clauses (b) and (c) of subsection (2) or clauses (d) and (e) of subsection (2), for the period 2016-2020, and applicable to the next following first day of January, shall be reduced so as to be proportionate to the part of the calendar year for which the allowance is paid.

(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to an allowance that commences to be paid to the survivor of an employee in receipt of a superannuation allowance under this Act unless that employee died in the calendar year that the allowance commenced to be paid to the employee, in which case the cost of living increase referred to in clauses (b) and (c) of subsection (2) or clauses (d) and (e) of subsection (2), for the period 2016-2020, and applicable to the next following first day of January, shall be reduced so as to be proportionate to the part of the calendar year for which an allowance is paid to the employee and the survivor.

19C The principles, time lines and processes set out in Section 19B shall apply, with all necessary date changes, to cost of living increases, if any, for each five-year period subsequent to 2020.

19D From and after the first day of January, 2011, no allowance under this Act shall commence or continue to be credited with any cost of living adjustment during the period prior to which the allowance commences to be paid.

19E (1) Notwithstanding Sections 19B and 19C, for the five-year period 2016-2020 and thereafter, where, with the advice of the plan's actuary and other relevant advisors, the Trustee at any time has reason to believe that the funded ratio of the pension plan has, because of the then-current economic situation or other extraordinary circumstances, declined so as to be fifteen percentage points or more below the funded ratio set out in the immediately preceding five-year actuarial valuation report, the Trustee shall declare the annual cost of living increase effective the next following first day of January to be zero.

(2) Where the Trustee declares an annual cost of living increase to be zero pursuant to subsection (1), the Trustee shall monitor the economic situation or other extraordinary circumstances that prompted the declaration and may, with the advice of the plan's actuary and other relevant advisors, declare further scheduled cost of living increases within that five-year period to also be zero.

(3) Any annual cost of living increase payable but for subsections (1) and (2) shall not accumulate or otherwise be payable at a future time.

19F Any superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act being paid on the thirty-first day of December, 2010, or that commences to be paid after the thirty-first day of December, 2010, shall be adjusted for cost of living in accordance only with Sections 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E and, notwithstanding any prior enactment or regulation, or any contract, agreement, order or representation relating to, fixing or in any manner referencing a cost of living adjustment applicable to any superannuation allowance or other allowance under this Act or any predecessor to this Act, the amount of any such cost of living adjustment shall be determined solely in accordance with Sections 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D and 19E, and no person shall have or maintain any cause of action or claim against the Province, the Minister, the Trustee or any other person arising from or in relation to any such prior enactment, regulation, contract, agreement, order or representation.