Sarnia-Lambton's Conservative MP is pleased that her private member's bill has passed another critical step.
Marilyn Gladu's Bill C-228 received nearly unanimous support in House of Commons Wednesday, and will now be reviewed by the Parliamentary Finance Committee in September.
It's aimed at ensuring that companies that go broke will have to pay their workers the pension money they’re entitled to.
Gladu said some amendments were made to the original document to make sure all parties were on board.
"I had proposed a mechanism to allow people to get insurance on an insolvent portion of a fund," said Gladu. "The stakeholders didn't like that and the NDP didn't like that, so we're taking that one out. The NDP wanted to have severance at the same priority as pensions because many people who didn't get their full pension also didn't get their severance. So, I think that's something we can all agree on and that will go into the bill."
Other amendments include giving insolvent funds three years to get their house in order, instead of five. Employers also won't be able to change the type of pension handed out during a bankruptcy.
Gladu first introduced Bill C-228 in February, and she said similar bills have been voted against in the past. If it passes the committee level, it will be brought back to the House of Commons for a third reading.
If it passes there, it will go to the Senate.
