I would like to welcome our witnesses.
We are dealing with an issue that is critical for the general public. We are talking about pensions. Employees who have worked all their lives and who are expecting to receive pension benefits could see them disappear overnight. We see what is happening right now with the automakers, where the market was previously quite solid. People are wondering whether they will receive their company pension. This is a big problem and a major worry for the public.
My first question is for Ms. Eng, who represents retirees across the country.
You talk about protecting beneficiaries and you make suggestions that seem to me to be very random and unlikely to be effective. In your second recommendation, you propose universal access to benefits for approximately one-third of Canadians. These would be people who did not manage to put aside enough money for their retirement. I find that a rather strange idea.
How would we determine who would benefit from universal access? Would it not be better to recommend that all employees receive a higher universal government pension, instead of asking the government to step in to clean up the mess caused by companies that do not meet their obligations?