On January 31, 2025, the 2024-25 OLIP interns had the wonderful opportunity to meet with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) in their beautiful office in downtown Toronto. This meeting was especially meaningful for our cohort because we were hosted by two OLIP alumni who currently work for OMERS: Mr. Chris Morley, Vice President of Government Relations, and Ms. Ann DeRabie, Vice President of Communications.
Founded in 1962, OMERS invests and administers pensions for its members. They offer a strong portfolio of diversified investments in public markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. Their Primary Pension Plan was created by and is governed by the OMERS Act, an act of the Ontario Legislature. It is a multi-employer, jointly sponsored defined benefit pension plan whose members are mainly employees of Ontario municipalities, local boards, public utilities and non-teaching school board staff.
During our meeting, which also included a lunch generously provided by OLIP, we discussed a wide variety of topics, ranging from the staffer experience at Queen’s Park, to the day-to-day work of government relations professionals, to the interplay between federal and provincial politics. We enjoyed hearing how both Mr. Morley and Ms. DeRabbie leveraged their time in OLIP to continue their work in Queen’s Park, and then used their in-depth knowledge of the political process to propel their careers in the private sector.
One of the highlights of our meeting with Mr. Morley and Ms. DeRabbie was the opportunity to hear insights from their varied and extensive backgrounds in both public and private sector work. We appreciate hearing their perspectives Canada’s and Ontario’s current dynamic political environment, such as the federal Liberal leadership race and Ontario’s snap election. We also had the chance to consider how elections have impacted the OLIP experience over the programme’s nearly 50-year history!
Thank you so much to OMERS for your steadfast and impactful support of OLIP. Your contributions promote the growth and excellence of our interns and the programme itself. We also want to especially to Mr. Morley and Ms. DeRabbie for being so open and encouraging during their visit with the 2024-25 OLIP intern cohort.
