Let us go back to your question.
You mentioned a meeting with union representatives. One of the potential solutions considered was to change the Canada Post employee pension plan from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan. We do not consider that a promising long-term solution.
The d'Amours report stated the following:
For a number of years, the trend has been to offer newly hired workers pension plans where they alone assume the risks. Many defined benefit plans have been converted into defined contribution plans, or a defined contribution component has been added for future service. This trend is regrettable from an intergenerational standpoint.
Newly hired workers do not receive the same level of financial security as co-workers who have been with the business longer.
New workers are barred from membership in a quality pension plan...
The report notes further on that it is much better to restructure or reform the defined benefit plan—even if it means adjusting benefits—than to change plans.
Far from abandoning these plans, we should act counter to prevailing trends and work to ensure their sustainability and viability.
I did not write that. It was the members of the expert committee who prepared the d'Amours report, well-known people from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, who wrote it. Alban d'Amours is a former president of the Mouvement des caisses Desjardins. All of them are specialists.
The solution may not be the best, given the structure of our corporation. The corporation partly owes its strength to defined benefit plans, even if it means they must be restructured.