There I go, putting my foot in my mouth. It's a certain age.
Gilbert worked for his pension. It was not a gift. Gilbert opted for a reduced pension, a negotiated pension. He signed to secure my financial protection in the event that he passed away before me. According to the agreement, the resulting survivor pension amounts to 60% of the monthly reduced payments he received.
Now that Nortel has abandoned its pension plans on September 30, we are faced--you've heard this before, but I'm saying it again, if you don't mind--with an additional projected pension reduction of 35% to 50%. Ce n'est pas supportable, pas du tout.
We never envisioned that Nortel would default from its contracted obligation. Now I am faced with this pension reduction and the loss of medical benefits as of December 31. I am not going to buy private insurance. It would cost too much.
I represent the Nortel pensioner survivors who could heretofore rely on a dependable budget and guaranteed medical benefits to secure an autonomous and healthy way of life. Many will suffer physically as well as financially when they no longer can afford their medication and are faced with the prospect of losing a quality of life that is the result of hard and honest work.
I am fortunate because my health is not too bad, but I don't know for how long, and I don't know when He will call me. What if I live to be 100?
The telephone calls that members of the Nortel retirees' protection committee have received are truly heartbreaking. You've heard other stories, and this is true. I am not stretching the truth.
I would say that the truth was perhaps stretched by the people who were just here. I thought, “Capital investment”. Do you know the first word that came to my mind? Am I wrong? It was “threatening”. I thought it was threatening. They said we won't have the workers if we don't invest. I invested $4,000 in Nortel. That's nothing to you, but it was a lot to me. It was a risk. Of course, I lost it. Don't you, when you invest? Don't you lose it if something happens?
Lest you forget, moneys from Nortel sales are deferred wages that belong to us. I am worried. As I said, I don't know how long I will be on this earth.
Finish writing this bill. Give us the justice we deserve. Please don't tell me that you can't change all of it and you'll throw it out. Your duty is to protect us. The one thing I heard on Tuesday was the word “can't”. I don't think a government would be in place if it “can't” do something--no way.
If you were in my position, would you expect anything less than what I am asking from my government? What more can I say?
Thank you.