For defined benefit plans I think there are two kinds of issues. There's a short-term funding issue, which we talked quite a lot about. One of the other issues out there is that many sponsors believe that the current system is stacked against defined benefit pension plans and in favour of defined contribution plans. A lot of people commented about the shift away from defined benefit plans, and that's partly funding rules, but it's also uncertainties about how to deal with a surplus in these plans--there are a variety of issues that are longer-term structural issues.
I'm not saying I support the position of one side in this. I don't carry a brief for one side or the other, because there are a lot of divergent views out there on the longer-term issues. I think it's really been commendable that the Department of Finance has started to put on the table some of the longer-term issues, which are in that paper. They're not easy issues to deal with. I think it's important to look at them.
I think it's really great that the short-term issues have been looked at in the budget, because I think that flexibility is going to be helpful. The longer-term issues matter for...and I've spoken about this, the Governor of the Bank of Canada has spoken about this, and so on. I think the minister has said he wants to come back.... It's a longer-term kind of issue; it's not immediate. I think it's beneficial that those things are out on the table.
At this point, there is not a lot of consensus out there among a variety of groups about what the right solutions are. I think that's going to be important too, and I've spoken on that.