Serial killer Russell Williams could lose his military pension after all
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/serial-killer-russell-williams-could-lose-his-military-pension-after-all/
Michael Friscolanti August 1, 2014
The Canadian Forces didn’t waste any time ridding itself of Russell Williams. As soon as the disgraced ex-colonel pleaded guilty, the military stripped him of all his medals, revoked his commission, and booted him from the air force on the grounds of “service misconduct”—the gravest breach possible. Military police even torched the killer’s uniforms. (The commander’s office at CFB Trenton didn’t need another overhaul; construction crews took care of that within days of his arrest, tearing up the carpet, painting the walls and delivering fresh furniture.)
But there was one thing the Forces couldn’t touch: Williams’s pension, believed to be worth $60,000 a year.
Despite his horrific crimes—and the anger of so many, in uniform and out—Williams’s retirement savings belong to him, by law. The Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, which governs military pensions, specifically states that such benefits are “exempt from attachment, seizure and execution,” which means they can’t be revoked by the government or awarded to plaintiffs. It doesn’t matter that the recipient is a sadistic serial predator who violated every core value the military stands for; he contributed to the pension plan for two decades, so the money is his.
One of Russell Williams’s victims is now fighting to change that law.
Laurie Massicotte—a Tweed, Ont., mother who was tied up and sexually assaulted just weeks before the intruder committed his first homicide—is attempting to amend a lawsuit she filed in 2011 to include a new claim: that the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act violates her Charter rights to life, liberty and security because it deprives her of potential compensation for the “physical and psychological losses” she endured. Simply put, she says the legislation that shields Williams’s military pension from lawsuits is unconstitutional.
Massicotte originally asked to add that argument to her claim late last year, but an Ontario judge denied the request in April, ruling it would only “complicate and lengthen” a case that is already more than two years old. Now her lawyer is asking the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the province’s highest, to overturn the decision—and put Williams’s pension back in play as potential damages. “To deny the amendments would be to prevent Laurie and her daughters [also named as plaintiffs] from fully asserting their claims as originally pleaded,” reads a factum from Philip Healey, Massicotte’s Toronto lawyer, filed in court on July 25. “The parties in this action have known about the issues in dispute since it was initiated.”
Although a ruling in Massicotte’s favour would not grant her (or any other victim) automatic access to Williams’s pension, the stakes are high. If the appeal court quashes the ruling and allows her to amend her lawsuit, it would—for the first time—put the former colonel’s pension in jeopardy. She would be allowed to argue the legislation protecting that money violates the Charter and must be struck down. “We believe that Ms. Massicotte should be entitled to full compensation for the losses and damages that she suffered,” Healey recently told Maclean’s. “And the pension should be part of that.”
A hearing date for the appeal has not been set.
What should happen to Williams’s pension has been a source of controversy since before he was even convicted. By chance, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives introduced new legislation in the days leading up to Williams’s sentencing hearing in October 2010, promising to strip federal prisoners of their old-age pensions and other guaranteed income supplements. But when questioned about the ex-colonel, the Prime Minister conceded that nothing could be done to reverse “contractual obligations the government may have,” including federal pensions.
In an email to all service members the day after Williams was sentenced, the chief of the Defence staff echoed that stance. “I wish to point out that under the CF Superannuation Act, there are no grounds to revoke his pension and a court martial would not have any impact on those accrued benefits,” wrote Gen. Walt Natynczyk, now retired.
The Forces’ pension regime is hardly unique. Most plans across Canada contain clauses that protect savings from creditors, says Lawrence Swartz, a Toronto lawyer and chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Pensions and Benefits Law Section. “The idea, from a public policy perspective, is that there is a social value in having a person’s pension payable to them,” he says. “The idea is to protect the basic financial security of Canadians into retirement, and that’s why the legislations protect against execution and seizure. If somebody were to sue they could collect from the person, but not from the pension fund.”
More on link
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/serial-killer-russell-williams-could-lose-his-military-pension-after-all/
Michael Friscolanti August 1, 2014
The Canadian Forces didn’t waste any time ridding itself of Russell Williams. As soon as the disgraced ex-colonel pleaded guilty, the military stripped him of all his medals, revoked his commission, and booted him from the air force on the grounds of “service misconduct”—the gravest breach possible. Military police even torched the killer’s uniforms. (The commander’s office at CFB Trenton didn’t need another overhaul; construction crews took care of that within days of his arrest, tearing up the carpet, painting the walls and delivering fresh furniture.)
But there was one thing the Forces couldn’t touch: Williams’s pension, believed to be worth $60,000 a year.
Despite his horrific crimes—and the anger of so many, in uniform and out—Williams’s retirement savings belong to him, by law. The Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, which governs military pensions, specifically states that such benefits are “exempt from attachment, seizure and execution,” which means they can’t be revoked by the government or awarded to plaintiffs. It doesn’t matter that the recipient is a sadistic serial predator who violated every core value the military stands for; he contributed to the pension plan for two decades, so the money is his.
One of Russell Williams’s victims is now fighting to change that law.
Laurie Massicotte—a Tweed, Ont., mother who was tied up and sexually assaulted just weeks before the intruder committed his first homicide—is attempting to amend a lawsuit she filed in 2011 to include a new claim: that the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act violates her Charter rights to life, liberty and security because it deprives her of potential compensation for the “physical and psychological losses” she endured. Simply put, she says the legislation that shields Williams’s military pension from lawsuits is unconstitutional.
Massicotte originally asked to add that argument to her claim late last year, but an Ontario judge denied the request in April, ruling it would only “complicate and lengthen” a case that is already more than two years old. Now her lawyer is asking the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the province’s highest, to overturn the decision—and put Williams’s pension back in play as potential damages. “To deny the amendments would be to prevent Laurie and her daughters [also named as plaintiffs] from fully asserting their claims as originally pleaded,” reads a factum from Philip Healey, Massicotte’s Toronto lawyer, filed in court on July 25. “The parties in this action have known about the issues in dispute since it was initiated.”
Although a ruling in Massicotte’s favour would not grant her (or any other victim) automatic access to Williams’s pension, the stakes are high. If the appeal court quashes the ruling and allows her to amend her lawsuit, it would—for the first time—put the former colonel’s pension in jeopardy. She would be allowed to argue the legislation protecting that money violates the Charter and must be struck down. “We believe that Ms. Massicotte should be entitled to full compensation for the losses and damages that she suffered,” Healey recently told Maclean’s. “And the pension should be part of that.”
A hearing date for the appeal has not been set.
What should happen to Williams’s pension has been a source of controversy since before he was even convicted. By chance, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives introduced new legislation in the days leading up to Williams’s sentencing hearing in October 2010, promising to strip federal prisoners of their old-age pensions and other guaranteed income supplements. But when questioned about the ex-colonel, the Prime Minister conceded that nothing could be done to reverse “contractual obligations the government may have,” including federal pensions.
In an email to all service members the day after Williams was sentenced, the chief of the Defence staff echoed that stance. “I wish to point out that under the CF Superannuation Act, there are no grounds to revoke his pension and a court martial would not have any impact on those accrued benefits,” wrote Gen. Walt Natynczyk, now retired.
The Forces’ pension regime is hardly unique. Most plans across Canada contain clauses that protect savings from creditors, says Lawrence Swartz, a Toronto lawyer and chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Pensions and Benefits Law Section. “The idea, from a public policy perspective, is that there is a social value in having a person’s pension payable to them,” he says. “The idea is to protect the basic financial security of Canadians into retirement, and that’s why the legislations protect against execution and seizure. If somebody were to sue they could collect from the person, but not from the pension fund.”
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