Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As the honourable parliamentary secretary pointed out, it's not the employer creating the wealth and making it possible for that wealth to be redistributed to workers. It is thanks to everyone working together in a coordinated way that wealth is created and redistributed.
The problem is that all the witnesses and stakeholders the honourable parliamentary secretary referred to benefit from not having an obligation to adequately fund a pension plan. The more underfunded it is, the more money they have to put towards other things, and as long as that doesn't change, they benefit directly. The interests of pension fund managers and big businesses are not served if things change. As long as the company is doing fine, it doesn't have to fully fund the pension plan as it should, and when things aren't going well, the company isn't on the hook. The pensioners are.
In economics, that's called adverse selection. That is partly what the bill is trying to fix. The message to employers and pension fund managers is this: fund your pension plans, because if you don't, when you're in trouble, you'll have to fund them, since pensioners have super-priority creditor status. The message we need to send them is that they have to stop disrespecting pensioners and future pensioners. This is money they are owed, and it needs to be secured.
I listened carefully to the honourable member's position. However, if the employer or the pension fund manager does not adequately fund the pension plan, even if the business is at risk of bankruptcy, mortgage creditors still take priority. That is not only my understanding, but also the understanding of union representatives and seniors advocates. A previous loan already granted by the bank may not enjoy the same priority as the pension fund. However, the new loan that is granted so the company can save itself and restructure will bail the company out even if it failed to adequately fund the pension plan.
Mr. Chair, I repeat, I am totally comfortable with the current wording of the bill. It provides the necessary security.