Finance committee  With your permission, I would like Nathalie, our actuary, to answer you.

Finance committee  Our position is not to claim that pensions, on the whole, should not be improved. We are aware that retirees are fragile and vulnerable. You have to consider the best way to do it. There will necessarily be costs associated with that, and I'm of the view that those costs must be

Finance committee  You're raising various points. You touched on one very delicate matter, the idea of a single securities commission for all of Canada. That's a point of view that we don't share at CSN and, in my view, that a vast majority of stakeholders in Quebec don't share. There's definitely

Finance committee  We're perfectly aware that what's paid by the public plans isn't enough and that protection should be expanded, but we're fundamentally suggesting another way of doing it. I'm going to ask Ms. Joncas to provide a few details on that.

Finance committee  We are advocating greater flexibility, ensuring that everyone can access a suitable pension plan, but that we can organize, negotiate those plans based on the specific characteristics of the labour force in various classes of businesses. We think that's a more flexible solution t

Finance committee  That's an excellent question. I would tell you that, barely a few weeks ago, we were thinking about the crisis, and the entire issue of bond-rating services was a prominent feature of our debate. There does not appear to be any framework for supervising them in any way whatever.

Finance committee  I'm going to ask Nathalie Joncas to answer that question.

Finance committee  I think I very clearly stated that we are more in favour of a legislative approach such as that of the Netherlands. The mandatory establishment of supplementary pension plans at all businesses can be an extremely appropriate arrangement because it makes it possible, among other t

Finance committee  You're obviously citing the recent example of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. I'm definitely not going to be the one to tell you I'm pleased with last year's results of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. I also think you have to know how to put things in per

Finance committee  We looked at two scenarios. It would have been almost natural for a union organization to tell you that it would be preferable to enhance the public plan, but that's ultimately not the scenario we chose. That's essentially because the mere fact of going back a little in time brin

Finance committee  With your permission, I'm going to ask Nathalie Joncas to provide some details on that.

Finance committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of CSN's 300,000 members, I am pleased that this consultation is being held and especially to be able to express our point of view on the future of pension plans. CSN believes it is absolutely necessary to step back a little and do a complet

Finance committee  Adequate funding for education is certainly the priority that holds the most promise for the future. I saw what was done in the budget. The federal government's cuts to transfer payments weren't done by the current government, but they are still a fact of life.

Finance committee  Yes. Still, there was an extremely broad consensus among all provinces and a number of the constituents of civil society to the effect that the funding should be restored, particularly for post-secondary education. Higher education needs support. Continuing education for adults a

Finance committee  I fully agree. I think regional development is huge. I've seen studies on regions like the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean. There's a population drain: the equivalent of one bus per week is leaving the region. It makes no sense in terms of vitality and the population base. When that exod