Case
Alliance des professionnels et des professionnelles de la Ville de Québec, et al. v. La Procureure générale du Québec
Analysis Group Managing Principal Marc Van Audenrode was retained as an economic expert on behalf of the Quebec Ministry of Justice in connection with a matter related to the passing of the Act to Foster the Financial Health and Sustainability of Municipal Defined Benefit Pension Plans (Bill 15) in Quebec in 2014. Unions from various municipal organizations contested the bill, which was created to regulate certain aspects of defined-benefit pension plans offered to municipal employees in order to improve the financial health of these plans and ensure their sustainability. The unions argued that allowing this bill to pass would infringe on employees’ fundamental freedom of association – in particular, the right to bargain collectively on working conditions.
Supported by an Analysis Group team that included Vice Presidents Martin Cloutier, Alix Duhaime-Ross, and Catherine Gendron-Saulnier, Dr. Van Audenrode conducted a detailed economic analysis of the relevant economic environment in the context of Bill 15. During the trial, he testified on Quebec’s economic environment during the period when Bill 15 was passed, including the performance of financial markets, the demographic composition of Quebec workers, their level of preparation for retirement, and the financial situation of municipalities affected by Bill 15.
In his judgment, Justice Moulin of the Superior Court of Quebec referenced Dr. Van Audenrode’s report to highlight the growing cost of pension plans in the overall compensation of municipal employees. Justice Moulin concluded that there was no reason to declare the sections of Bill 15 relating to active members unconstitutional, while also recognizing the vested rights of retired members.
Testifiers
Marc Van Audenrode
Dr. Van Audenrode is an expert in data analysis and econometrics, labor economics, antitrust and competition policy, and public economics. He has consulted to clients - including law firms and government agencies - in Canada, the US, and Europe. Dr. Van Audenrode’s work includes developing a methodology to value desktop software; he also developed expertise valuing goods as varied as restaurant franchises, executive stock options, or smartphone features. His recent work in public economics includes evaluating the economic rent from hydroelectricity to the Canadian economy and the value of logging rights on the ancestral territory of a Canadian First Nation. In the area of labor economics, his work has included filing an expert report assessing fair compensation for Quebec provincial judges and Quebec prosecutors and advising Quebec’s commission on pay equity. Dr. Van Audenrode has filed expert reports in courts in the US, Canada, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and has testified in Canada and the US. He recently filed a report with the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in support of the settlement reached between Ageas and claimant organizations in the Fortis case, the largest settlement ever reached through the Dutch Collective Settlement Act (WCAM). Dr. Van Audenrode’s scientific research and articles have been published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals and trade journals. He is a coauthor of the book The Mutual Fund Industry: Competition and Investor Welfare, and is a frequent presenter at industry and academic conferences.
*Marc Van Audenrode srl