Foreword To the Second Edition

• Author: Frank Iacobucci
• Pages: 29-30

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FOREWORD

To the Second Edition

Pension law is an example of how an area of law can quickly develop

and emerge as a major subject; not just for lawyers, but also particu larly

for employees, employers, and professional advisors. But even more

important is the challenge to society; generally, how it responds to the

myriad policy alternatives and approaches for the design and imple-

mentation of legislation that is required to cover the f‌ield satisfactorily.

Pension law, like other legal regimes such as taxation, builds on num-

erous other legal subjects to make pension issues even more complex.

Consequently, changes in those foundational subjects call for corres-

ponding pension law adjustments, as can fundamental changes in the

economic environment of Canada, as we have recently witnessed.

The f‌irst edition of Pension Law has met with great success. Apart

from being the f‌irst text on the subject, it has been cited by various

tribunals and by all levels of court in Canada, and many authors fre-

quently referred to it in secondary commentary. The f‌ield is a dynamic

one, with many signif‌icant judicial and legislative developments occur-

ring in the six years since the f‌irst edition. For example, there have

been four pivotal decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada, and the

introduction of major reforms to pension legislation across the country.

Arguably, the 2008 economic recession was of paramount import-

ance as an impetus for a second edition. This wa s without doubt a major,

unprecedented, intervening event that tested the coherence, integrity,

and adequacy of the pension legal environment. The impact of that

occurrence was huge; hardly any entity of any signif‌icant size escaped