April 28, 2009 - IRGO Information Event

Post-Event Article

The Interministerial Retiree Group of Ottawa (IRGO) in partnership with the Ottawa Interministerial Council (OIC) and the Quarter Century Club (QCC) held another successful retiree event in Ottawa.

The theme for this event was "Pension Security and Powers of Attorney". Fifty (50) OPS Retirees & their spouse attended the event, which was held at the Rideau Tennis Club, 1 Donald Street, Ottawa, Ontario.

Moe Desjardins (IRGO Chair) opening the event by thanking those in attendance who took the time to attend today's meetings. Moe also complemented the IRGO Executive for putting this event together and for having done so much in such little time. Moe then proceeded to list key deliverables completed by IRGO, including but not limited to:

• This is our third IRGO Learning Event
• Increased our membership to over 50 OPS retirees
• Developed our communication brochure
• Designed, developed and launched our official website: www.irgo.ca
• Expanded our partnership with other internal/external stakeholders such as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Moe also offered thanks to Bill Hall, our IRGO Webmaster, who has volunteered his time to design (format and content), manage and launch our website.

A number of dignitaries attended the event to offer support for IRGO, which included:

Asfia Sultan, OIC Chair and Superintendent of the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Center

George Chin, OIC Past-Chair and EIC Chair, Ministry of the Attorney General - Ottawa Courthouse

Jack Mc Fadden, Quarter Century Club Board of Directors and Retiree from the Ministry of Natural Resources

Also in attendance was Ken Sandhu, QCC Member of the Board of Directors.

The first guest speaker was Peter Shena, Senior Vice-President - Stakeholder Relations and Pension Policy, Ontario Pension Board. Peter provided in-depth information about the Ontario Pension Plan, Cost of Living increases (Indexing), the financial state of the OPB, its investments and a look into the OPB future.

The second speaker was Elaine Rufiange, lawyer for the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, Ministry of the Attorney General.

Elaine provided us with a dynamic and informative look into making a Power of Attorney. Numerous questions from the audience were asked during Elaine's presentation. You can access Elaine's presentation material by clicking here

David Root (IRGO Treasurer) provided the group with an overview of our finances, which can also be found on the IRGO website.

Moe closed the event by encouraging members to get in touch with their retiree colleagues to join our group. We need to increase our membership and need their assistance. We can't do it alone. The event finished at 12:30 p.m.

Lunch was then served.

Robert St. Clair
IRGO Special Events Coordinator

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