Thank you, Madam Chair.
I've been doing some research, and we have information from a number of sources, one being the Canadian Labour Congress. They indicated that in January 2009, 567 farms pulled the plug on their operations and filed bankruptcy. Ontario manufacturing bankruptcies rose by 24%. Business insolvencies also rose in Quebec, because the recession very clearly is hitting the province's industrial sector very hard, and 250 companies closed their doors, while there were 202 closures in December 2008. This impacted a significant number of workers.
The only region in Canada that currently insures pensions is Ontario, where the mandatory fund protects earnings of about $1,000 per month, or $12,000 per year, for those pensioners who are suddenly without any money. We've talked about the review that's gone on, and an expert commission recently recommended that this amount be increased to $2,500 per month so that pensioners would truly be protected against the cost of inflation and the reality of what it costs to live.
Should such a protection plan be encouraged among the other provinces, as well as an increase, so that people are not left in difficult circumstances?