First, the provincial and federal governments need to make appropriate adjustments to their pension laws so that the sponsors of defined-benefit pension plans are responsible for all residual risks to the pension plan—both outcomes that lead to deficits and outcomes that lead to surpluses. Let me be clear.
I am not saying that firms should be given unambiguous sole ownership of pension surpluses, but rather that sponsors should have that ownership. There are a handful of pension funds—such as the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan—where both the employer and employees are joint sponsors, and share ownership of any surpluses, as well as responsibility for any deficits.