Mr. Speaker, I can certainly give the hon. member that assurance.
Nobody in the government has ever said in any way, shape or form that we would be making changes to the fundamental protection of seniors through the OAS. The social review that we presently have under way is primarily designed to deal with questions of employability and with questions of security for families and children. That is our real commitment.
The Minister of Finance indicated in the budget that we would be preparing a paper on the long term issues and implications of what happens to a society that is aging and what that means for some of the long term security benefits 20 to 30 years ahead. We
must address those matters because of the changing age of the population and what that would do in terms of premiums and so on.
That is a discussion paper looking at the long term. We have no intention of making any changes whatsoever at this time in existing security programs for seniors.