Sixty Years of History
by Vi Oko
John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Pope John XXIII passed away, Lester B. Pearson became Prime Minister, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous āI Have a Dreamā speech, āLittlest Hoboā and āThe Fugitiveā were on television, and Beatlemania was launched with the release of āI Want to Hold Your Handā in 1963. The Edmonton Retired Teachers’ Association (ERTA) and the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (ARTA) were formally organized in 1963. The histories of both associations are closely interwoven.
In the early 1950s, retired teachers in Edmonton met informally to pursue their interest in art, music, bridge and bowling. By the end of the 1950s, similar groups were meeting socially in Calgary and Lethbridge as well.
Ben Hager presided at a meeting of the Retired Teachers of Edmonton on November 14, 1960, to discuss the contents of a letter received from James Laing, president of the fledgling group in Calgary, advising his colleagues in Edmonton of the intent of retired teachers residing in Calgary to formally organize to address the pension and medical insurance concerns the two groups shared. Larue Smith was elected to the position of president at that meeting with Lillian Parnell agreeing to continue to serve as secretary of the organization.
Soon after, a committee of retired teachers living in Edmonton began to lobby the provincial government, seeking an increase in pension income for those teachers who retired before 1948.
A Teachersā Pension Plan had been established in 1939 with equal contributions to the plan made by active teachers and the provincial government. The first pension cheque was received by a retired teacher in 1940.
The first formal meeting of the Retired Teachers Association of AlbertaāCalgary Branch was held at Western Canada High School on January 23, 1961. A one-dollar fee was set at that meeting.
In a 1956 amendment to the Teachersā Retirement Fund Act, the government agreed to guarantee all pensions, but it stopped setting aside money to prefund the benefits. At this point the government took out half of the pool of money that had accrued and used it to pay its share of pension payments, quickly depleting the small reserve.Ā (continued)
Lillian Parnell began writing letters to all of the retired teachers in the province, encouraging them to join, for a dollar membership fee, the Retired Teachers of Alberta. The Edmonton committee paid the initial postage costs.
Following a presentation by Frank G. McCoy to the Annual Representative Assembly in 1962, the Alberta Teachersā Association (ATA) agreed to assess all active teachers an additional fifty cents a month. As a result, teachers who had retired prior to 1948 began to receive a $110.00 pension (the original $65.00 pension supplemented by an additional $30.00 from the ATA and $15.00 from the government).
The committee began to advocate in earnest for an increase in pensions for those teachers who had retired as recently as 1959.
In an exchange of letters with James Laing, Lillian, on behalf of her committee, pursued the idea of a permanent retired teachersā organization with the primary objective being the overall welfare of all retired teachers and the need to speak with one voice on behalf of all retired teachers in Alberta.
Medical Services Incorporated (MSI) was a group health insurance plan that offered reduced rates for hospitalization, but only if 75% of the retired teachers in the province joined as a group. A total of 52% of the respondents to a notice in the June issue of the ATA Magazine stated a willingness to join. Lillian contacted 288 retired teachers, in the hope of convincing the required number to commit. Only 59% of them replied. Of the 461 letters she sent to the 1961 retirees, only 60% supported the proposal. However, with James Laingās encourage-ment and Lillian Parnellās letter-writing campaign, the required percentage was finally attained in 1962 and a group health insurance plan for retired teachers was achieved.
Delegates representing the Retired Teachers of Ed-monton, the Alberta Retired Teachersā Association-Calgary Branch, the Retired Teachers Association (Lethbridge) and retirees in Medicine Hat met on March 12, 1963, to originate the Retired Teachers of Alberta, later changed to the Alberta Retired Teachersā Association.
Application for incorporation under the Societies Act was made on September 3, 1963. The charter that incorporated the Alberta Retired Teachersā Association as a non-profit society was issued on November 14, 1963.Ā (continued in part 2)