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But after hours of circling debate Monday night, council members couldn’t agree on what the proposal was trying to accomplish — or what possible benefit would come from the review.

City administration warned that hiring an outside expert to conduct a full-scale review of pensions and retirement plans could take months and come at a significant cost to the city.

Questions were also raised about the benefit of conducting the review when the city likely wouldn’t be able to make any significant changes without first re-opening collective agreements for unionized positions.

With so many uncertainties hanging over the proposal, council eventually voted unanimously to send it to audit committee for further refinement.

Following the vote, Chahal said he has happy the referral would keep his proposal alive, despite some of the criticisms raised by his colleagues.

“This is really important work that we need to do. This has never been done at the City of Calgary: a full, comprehensive public-sector pension plan review,” Chahal said.

“I have a lot of faith that (audit committee) will keep a close eye on this and get it to where it needs to go so we can make well-informed decisions going forward.”

Photo by Gavin Young / Postmedia

Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who supported the referral, argued that the private sector trend toward defined contribution pensions should not necessarily guide the city’s own pension decisions. Defined benefit pension plans, Nenshi said, offer a “dignified retirement” for city workers who devote their lives to public service.