May I say something on that? My understanding of a defined contribution plan is that it's very much like an RRSP. That is, when you retire, you must make a choice as to what your payout is, and provincial laws as well as federal laws require that at that point, you make a choice as to whether there will be a spousal prolongation, that is, a joint survivor benefit. And when you get into that situation, you're in very much the same situation as you are in with the defined benefit plan. The difference is that for the defined contribution, what you get out of the defined contribution--your annuity and so forth--depends on what interest rates are at the time you retire, whereas defined benefits give you a guaranteed amount of money based on what the plan provides.
On March 20th, 2007. See this statement in context.