TORONTO - Hundreds of Nortel pensioners rallied today outside the Ontario legislature demanding a change in the way their pensions will be handled.
The administration of the plan will be handed over to the Ontario government at the end of this month.
The plan is to wind up the fund and convert it into individual annuities with various financial institutions.
But Nortel retirees want the government to offer a different plan called the financial sponsorship model, where financial institutions compete to offer something like a pension.
Outside the legislature, people were chanting and yelling "shame" as they blamed Premier Dalton McGuinty for not accepting an alternative plan.
But Finance Minister Dwight Duncan says the government is opposed to any plan that increases the risk associated with the $2.5-billion Nortel pension fund.
Duncan says the pensioners want to invest in riskier assets to receive a higher return in order to make up for any losses.
