Harper refuses to amend bankruptcy law to give priority for disability insurance provided by employers

Diane A. Urquhart sent me this. It's quite something. Pensions should be protected -- all the Parties other than the Conservatives agree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWVN_alPXcA 

Prime Minister Harper is burying the disabled when he refuses to amend bankruptcy law to give priority for disability insurance provided by employers. This decision forces Canadian disabled employees into poverty when their employers go bankrupt.  The Prime Minister listens to the Canadian Bankers Association, which has done no research on unsafe disability insurance. 

The Canadian Government gave super-priority to $236 billion of credit default swaps within corporation bankruptcy estates in November 2007, even though these insurance contracts were the central cause of the international financial crisis and the breakdown of the Canadian Non Bank Asset Backed Commercial Paper Market in August 2007. Credit default swaps are insurance to cover the losses on bank loans and bonds at bankrupt corporations.  The banks have gotten to the front of the line at bankrupt corporations for the payment of their insurance on credit losses, while the same banks have convinced the Canadian Government that disability insurance covering Canada's most vulnerable citizens must stay at the back of the line with unsecured creditors.

Canadians with diseases like Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Cancer, Brain Injury and Mental Illness are the victims of this bank abuse. Jackie Bodie with Parkinson's Disease tells the story of how disabled employees are abused in the YouTube video.

Policyholders at  insolvent insurance companies get priority over the creditors and this must be the same for employers playing the role of insurer. Where disability insurance is provided by the employer, it must have priority over the creditors at the bankrupt corporation.  Disability insurance provided by insurers has three levels of protection:  (1)  a requirement for disability insurance reserves, (2) policyholders are ahead of the creditors at insolvent insurers,  and (3) there is the insurance industry protection program, called Assuris, to provide further safety for disability insurance at insolvent insurers. 

Only the Federal Government can provide priority for disability insurance at both insolvent insurers and insolvent employers who provide disability insurance themselves.

The banks should not have a say on what is required for safe disability insurance. The Federal Government has a responsibility to provide security for its disabled citizens.

The Canadian disabled thank the Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff, NDP Leader Jack Layton, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Green Leader Elizabeth May for supporting the Nortel disabled fight for justice. For more information, go to

www.protectourtomorrow.com.