Regarding problems with uninsured underfunded LTD plans brought to light by Nortel's insolvency:
All Canadians should realize that long term disability is an important issue for everyone.
LTD handling needs an overhaul - maybe it should be handled as a form of pension. It should be a national program for all.
Until this change is made, all private sector non-unionized employees need to check if their employee benefits are paid out of a Health and Welfare Trust (HWT). These trusts are uninsured and can be underfunded, which means you can lose your benefits (even LTD like Nortel's disabled employees) in your company's insolvency/bankruptcy and possibly even in a merger/takeover. Again, check your employee benefits in these times of mergers, layoffs, bankrupties, insolvencies and takeovers. If you don't like what you see, talk to your employers and lobby the government for changes to legislation/regulations for HWTs and bankruptcy/insolvency laws.

So what I'm saying is that the government needs to make changes to ensure the safety and endurance of private sector employee benefit plans, just as it has ensured the safety and endurance of government employee plans. This may mean businesses and their employees will have to pay more for insurance and plan funding up-front, but at least that means less chance of financial devastation if the company goes bankrupt.

Nortel Ltders are set to soon lose their LTD payments, their Health Benefits plan, and their life "insurance" when the "Trust" that holds the funds for these benefits runs out of money. This is because this "Trust" is underfunded and uninsured, which is the crucial major downside to employees in ASO benefit plans. These plans have been around for the last thirty years, with the implicit backing of the federal and provincial governments, since they allow them to exist! They know the risk that these plans pose to employees, and yet they do nothing. The change to the BIA is an attempt to get the government to realize that these ASO benefit plans cause financial turmoil and even ruin for employees experiencing company bankruptcy. There needs to be insurance and proper funding regulation of private sector employee benefit plans, so this turmoil does not happen in the first place. Our government needs to step up and make these changes NOW. After all, the government's employees' benefit plans are properly insured and funded, and our taxes help fund them! Isn't the government supposed to look out for the welfare of all its citizens, not just the ones working for the government????