Pension administrator suing former owners of Halifax newspaper

The former owners of the Chronicle Herald newspaper are being sued for allegedly failing to make payments into the company's pension plan.

The lawsuit was launched this week by Ontario-based Eckler Admin Corporation, which was appointed to oversee the pension plan when the Herald's parent company, SaltWire Network Inc., sought bankruptcy protection last March.

According to the lawsuit, the Herald was supposed to make payments totalling more than $2.6 million in 2017 and 2018.

Lawyers for Eckler allege that rather than making those payments, the company invested the money in its digital operations. The Eckler lawsuit said the Herald was counting on a regulatory change that would eliminate the need to make those payments. However, that change did not happen.

Nova Scotia's superintendent of pensions made numerous attempts to have the company pay the money it owed into the pension plan.

In January 2022, the superintendent ordered the Herald to make the payments. The company appealed that decision to the Nova Scotia Labour Board.

Legal bills exceed $405K

The board upheld the superintendent's position, which resulted in yet another appeal, this time to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

In February of this year, the court ruled the Herald was in breach of both the Pension Benefits Act and the Pension Benefits Regulations by its failure to make the payments.

The lawsuit alleges that the Herald used money in its pension plan to pay for things like this legal battle. That cost is more than $405,000.

In its lawsuit, Eckler is seeking a judgment for the more than $2.6 million owed, plus interest and costs.

The Herald has yet to respond to the lawsuit and none of the allegations, beyond the February ruling, have been tested in court.