Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I'm pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the amendment moved by my colleague Mr. Lawrence.
It's my understanding that Bill C-30 seeks to lower the CPP contribution limit from 9.9% to 9.5%. That doesn't sound like a particularly large number, but given that the Canada pension plan is a very important part of this country's social safety net, on which many seniors depend for their standard of living, it's important that we be prudent in making sure that we identify any potential ramifications of this decision.
It's my understanding that the chief actuary officer has provided to the committee a statement that the minimum contribution to the CPP should be 9.2% if the CPP is going to be sustainable long-term. As we all know, this is just an estimate. It depends on many different things and many factors that influence economic performance. For example, what happens if people start living longer? What happens if people have a longer life expectancy and collect CPP benefits into their eighties and nineties and beyond? What will that mean to the sustainability of the Canada pension plan? What happens if more people opt to collect CPP closer to 60 or closer to 70? Have all these factors been accounted for in the figure that was provided by the chief actuary officer? What happens if economic performance increases or decreases?
We have to take into consideration the performance of the investment portfolio, which is obviously not carved in stone. They're just estimates and well-educated guesses that the chief actuary officer has to make. If the investment performance deteriorates, what will that mean to the long-term sustainability of the Canada pension plan?
We also have to consider that the investment portfolio is adjusted on an ongoing basis. Sometimes the investments will be in one sector versus another. Sometimes the investments will be moved from one country to another. Have we considered the sustainability of the countries in which we are making these investments? We certainly don't want to rush into any decisions that we may live to regret in the future.
For all these reasons, I think it's pretty reasonable to have this study take place. I hope that all members of the committee will support the subamendment that was moved by my colleague Mr. Lawrence.
That should do it for now, Madam Chair.