Supply  Mr. Speaker, my goodness and I thought I could rant. I appreciate the hon. member's question. It is a question that was very much to the point. I would like to reiterate because he obviously did not hear the full extent of my remarks. I did point out that the Reform Party is alone among political parties in Canada in relying so heavily upon the individual financial support of ordinary Canadians rather than the big money contributors to the old corrupt parties opposite.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I attempted to do just that in response to the hon. member from Cambridge. I said that our party does not support unilateral disarmament politically. We are already at a huge disadvantage because we do not have influence to peddle. We do not occupy high office in government at this point so we do not get the kind of $500 a plate big business dinners that the Liberal Party sells out across the country.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy of the Liberal Party never ceases to amaze me. First of all, our party decided that we would not engage in the kind of unilateral disarmament that the Liberal Party would like us to. We will not engage in unilateral disarmament but when we form the government, one of the first bills we will introduce in this place will be to eliminate the system of public financing of political parties.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I do not recall having impugned the integrity of any member of the House, but there are allegations regarding an employee of the Liberal Party of Canada which are on the record. The allegations are very troubling. Government members seem to pop up every time a member mentions those allegations.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the motion of the member of the third party, the hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, stating: That this House condemns the attitude of the government, which refuses to introduce in-depth reform of the legislation on the financing of federal political parties even though the existing legislation allows for a wide range of abuses.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, the House is now debating the single largest tax increase in Canadian history, a $10 billion tax grab that will take 10% off the paycheques of every Canadian and will forever make the future of young Canadians poorer. My question is for the Prime Minister. Why is he shutting down debate on the single largest tax increase ever considered by Parliament after only seven hours of debate?

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I want to do just that, which is why I am furious that this government is trying to gag Parliament on this issue.

Canada Pension Plan  This closure “displays the utter disdain with which the government treats the Canadian people”. That was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993 when the Tories did the same thing. “I am shocked—This is just terrible. Shame on the government”. That is what the House leader said in 1991.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that I am a strong federalist as are my colleagues in this party. I do think I speak for a large number of young Canadians. It is interesting that there are nine members of Parliament on this side of the House under the age of 30 and none on that side of the House.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. The impact on small business of the proposed payroll tax increases in Bill C-2 will be considerable. Self-employed small business people will face an increased payroll tax burden of some $3,600 a year. For some hon. friends opposite who are expecting to cash out on the great Las Vegas MP pension scam, $3,600 is not a lot of money.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Yes.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Mr. Speaker, it was not a question, it was not a comment, it was an irrational rant by a member who is embarrassed by the moral leadership of the hon. leader of the opposition who took the challenge and gave up his pension last year. Why does that member not meet the same challenge?

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Thank you very much. That is just what we need, a bunch of senators managing $200 billion public dollars. The Department of Finance has produced several studies and reports. The Bank of Canada, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and virtually every credible economic think tank in Canada will confirm that payroll taxes kill jobs.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Mr. Speaker, I did not mean to impugn the integrity of any member of the House. I meant to impugn the decisions made by successive governments and parliaments that decided to use the coercive power of the state to take money from people, without giving them a choice, to fund their retirement funds.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to debate Bill C-2, an act to amend the Canada pension plan. Some members of my generation think it should be renamed the Canada Ponzi plan. The pension plan was devised over 30 years ago by a Liberal government with a noble objective, one which all members then and now can agree on.