CAAT is a multiemployer pension plan that serves Ontario’s colleges and more than 800 public- and private-sector employers.Merle Robillard/The Globe and Mail
The chair of the CAAT Pension Plan’s board of trustees has been removed from his position by the union that appointed him, as investigations into alleged governance failures at the $23-billion pension fund are under way.
Don Smith had earlier been suspended as CAAT’s board chair by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), the labour group that appoints a number of the pension plan’s board members, as The Globe and Mail reported Monday.
Two days after CAAT said in a statement that Mr. Smith was still serving as chair “until he is formally removed‚” despite his suspension, OPSEU representatives on CAAT’s sponsors’ committee formally revoked his appointment.
The sponsors’ committee is an eight-member group that represents the interests of the plan’s employers and members. CAAT is a multiemployer pension plan that serves Ontario’s colleges and more than 800 public- and private-sector employers. It has a total of about 125,000 members.
A co-chair of CAAT’s sponsors’ committee, Darryl Bedford, confirmed that Mr. Smith has been removed from the board, but declined to comment further when reached by telephone.
CAAT spokesperson Stephen Hewitt also confirmed in an e-mail that OPSEU’s sponsors’ committee members “have removed Don Smith as a trustee of the CAAT board of trustees.”
The CAAT board “will appoint a new chair at its meeting later this month,” he added.
There are multiple investigations into CAAT’s governance, stemming from concerns raised by top executives about the approval of a $1.6-million vacation payout to the plan’s chief executive officer, Derek Dobson, as well as a personal relationship he has been having with a CAAT employee for more than a year. Three of the plan’s top executives abruptly left the plan in January, deepening the governance crisis at the plan.
The vice-chair of CAAT’s board, Kareen Stangherlin, is also under pressure.
Ms. Stangherlin was appointed to the board by the College Employer Council (CEC), which serves Ontario’s publicly-funded colleges and bargains on their behalf in contract negotiations with unionized staff. OPSEU called for the CEC to investigate Ms. Stangherlin’s actions as vice-chair as well, in a statement.
OPSEU said its own investigation is looking into concerns that the board’s chair and vice-chair “may have acted outside the policies and procedures of the plan.”
An OPSEU spokesperson, Aidan McNally, said the union has not yet had a response from the CEC, in a statement.
The CEO of the CEC, Graham Lloyd, said he is aware that CAAT has retained an external governance expert who is preparing a report.
“We respect and encourage that process and once that’s completed we will be in a better position to assess what’s happening,” he said in an interview.
In December, CAAT appointed a third-party expert to conduct a governance review, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
The provincial pensions regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, is also examining concerns related to CATT and whether there were governance failures.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the surname of OPSEU spokesperson Aidan McNally.