Paramount Pictures (Canada) Inc.

On January 7, 2005, Paramount Pictures (Canada) Inc. (the “Employer”) requested a hearing regarding three Notices of Proposal of the Deputy Superintendent, Pensions, dated December 3, 2004, proposing to:

• refuse to approve a report, dated May 7, 2002, on the actuarial valuation of the retirement plan for the salaried employees of the Employer (the “Pension Plan”) as at December 31, 2001;
• refuse consent to an application, dated January 9, 2003, submitted by the Employer, for the withdrawal of surplus on the wind up of the Pension Plan; and
• make an Order winding up the Pension Plan effective December 31, 2001.

The approval and consent were sought by the Employer pursuant to ss. 70(5), and 78(1), respectively, of the Pension Benefits Act (the “Act”) and the Order was proposed to be made by the Deputy Superintendent under s. 69(1)(a) of the Act.

The Deputy Superintendent refused to approve the report on the actuarial valuation of the Pension Plan because the proposal to wind up the Plan was not unconditional, being dependent on the Employer obtaining the necessary regulatory and court approvals, and because the report did not, apparently, include all the members affected by the Plan termination.

The request for approval of the surplus withdrawal application was refused because:

• the Pension Plan was not being wound up given the contingent nature of the wind up proposal, in which case consent of all the Plan members to any withdrawal of surplus was required, as it was an on-going pension plan, but such unanimous approval was not obtained;
• the Plan did not provide for payment of surplus to the Employer on wind up of the Plan as there was a trust, for the benefit of the members of the Plan, in respect of the pension fund for the Plan and as no power was reserved to revoke that trust, the amendments to the terms of the trust providing that, at termination of the Plan, any surplus in the pension fund should be paid to the Employer, were invalid. 

The Deputy Superintendent proposed to make the Order winding up the Pension Plan, effective December 31, 2001, on the basis that as at May 31, 2001 there was a cessation of employer contributions to the pension fund as evidenced by notices sent by the Employer to the members on that date proposing to terminate the Plan and share the surplus with the members and by the report on the actuarial valuation of the Plan as at December 31, 2001, which indicated that there were no active members and that the Employer was not required to make contributions to the Plan.

The pre-hearing conference scheduled for April 5, 2005 was adjourned on March 31, 2005, at the request of the parties, in favour of a settlement conference.  After a settlement conference held on June 1, 2005, the parties agreed to inform the Registrar when they wished to proceed with the matter before the Tribunal.

On August 4, 2005, Gerry Dillon, a former member of the Plan, acting in a representative capacity in the interests of all plan beneficiaries, filed an application for party status.  On September 23, 2005, the pre-hearing conference resumed at which time full party status was granted to Mr. Dillon.  The parties sought an adjournment of the proceedings on the basis that a class action proceeding was about to be commenced in the Ontario Superior Court with respect to the issue of entitlement to surplus.  The parties anticipated that the action would be certified as a class proceeding in October 2005, and that the application would be heard by the Court in January 2006.  In order to permit the application to proceed, the Tribunal ordered the pre-hearing conference adjourned to January 31, 2006. 

At a resumption of the pre-hearing conference on January 31, 2006, the matter was further adjourned to April 26, 2006, since the date of April 11, 2006 had been scheduled as the date for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to consider a proposed settlement in the class action.  The resumption of the pre-hearing conference was subsequently adjourned to May 4, 2006 and then further adjourned to May 29, 2006.  At the May 29, 2006 pre-hearing conference, the matter was further adjourned to September 21, 2006 to permit time for the conclusion of the court proceedings.

Updated to May, 31, 2006

On September 21, 2006, the parties advised the Tribunal that on September 11, 2006, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had approved the settlement in the class action.  A hearing date of December 5, 2006 was scheduled for the Tribunal to issue an order incorporating the minutes of settlement.

Updated to October 6, 2006

On November 28, 2006 the parties advised there had been a delay in formalizing the minutes of settlement and requested that the hearing scheduled for December 5, 2006 be adjourned.  The hearing is rescheduled to January 26, 2007.

Updated to January 10, 2007

On January 23, 2007, the Superintendent requested an adjournment of the hearing on consent of the parties to permit more time to deal with the amended wind up report and surplus withdrawal applications in order to determine if approval and consent will be provided to these.  The hearing was adjourned and is rescheduled to April 18, 2007.