Mr. Chairman, I will try to respond rather rapidly. I will start with the last point on the accrual rate.
The accrual rate is reduced from 4% to 3%. Furthermore, the number of years necessary in order to arrive at the maximum contribution is increased from 19 to 25. What we have proposed is certainly no more generous than what officials are generally offered in the private sector. What we are offering here is a condition. In the present House of Commons there is a grand total of 5 members who have 25 years of service, so the chance that someone would actually get a maximum pension is 5 over 301 under the proposal we have made here. This does not make for an overly generous pension scheme.
Second, given that the amount is taken on the larger structure, in order to get a pension MPs will in fact now have to contribute $2,900 more per year in premiums from here on in. In terms of government dollars spent for pension dollars out, this reduces the output proportionately considerably, because it is going more and more in that direction with the private sector.