Mr. Speaker, perhaps the last question belies the whole problem here. The fact that there is a complete lack of understanding is and has been an underlying concern on the part of Canadians for an extended period of time.
I have cited the example of many people who come up to me in my constituency. During the course of a day if I talk to 20 or 25 constituents at least five and maybe 10 of them will raise this issue during the conversation. It is a major problem.
I also suggest it is perhaps a problem with the news media itself. A couple of weeks ago I had occasion to be on Don Newman's show which is done in the lobby. The topic of the show was RRSPs and the comments the chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance had made about RRSPs.
Because I along with a number of other members in the House like to do better whenever we can, I called a number of people and asked them to watch the show and give me an honest critique as to what was going on. This was happening in the middle of the afternoon in the B.C. time zone so they along with other people in their offices watched as they sipped their coffee.
During the course of the show Don Newman happened to mention the MP pension plan. He was interviewing somebody and asked why the MPs should actually be asking questions about RRSPs when they have a gold plated plan themselves. I do not think that discussion between Don Newman and the person he was interviewing from the insurance industry took more then 90 seconds at the very most.
I had asked those people for a critique on how I had spoken, was my tie straight, how the interview went. However, every single solitary one of them, the very first comment they made was: "You guys have got to get your MP pensions under control". This is something that seems to go right over the tops of the heads of the Liberals. I cannot comprehend it.
I wonder whether the member has had the same feeling of frustration that I have had. Somebody like Don Newman or perhaps one of the commentators in the print media will make comments about this. However when the Reformers say, and I am very pleased that one of the NDP members is saying that this must be rectified immediately, that never ever appears in print. It never appears on television. I wonder if the hon. member has felt the same kind of frustration in that the news media will talk about it but they will not talk about the people who are trying to make things happen.