Mr. Speaker, let me first congratulate the parliamentary secretary on his last phrase. He said that freedom from debt was the greatest legacy we could leave our children, if I understood correctly. I only wish he had said that in the years he was sitting on this side of the House. However that is another story.
I want to put a question to the parliamentary secretary who I know is very much in the loop in terms of what is happening within government. I asked him a question about 10 days ago in the House relative to pension reform that he talked about in his speech. He evoked principles relative to pension reform. I am very interested in the issue. It is one that needs to be tackled head on. I agree this is something that requires the immediate attention of the country if we are to resolve some of the difficult issues.
I am assuming the government is not improvising pension reform, something so important that the parliamentary secretary chose to speak to it. For example, he mentioned a 60 per cent increase in expenditures over 15 years. That is not a number he
invented or drew out of a hat. It must have come from somewhere.
Given the importance of the issue to all Canadians and the consequences evoked-and I believe there is a bit of a hidden agenda in the budget-I have a very direct and simple question for the parliamentary secretary. In fairness to Canadians is the government willing to have all Canadians participate in the debate so we will all know what the choices are?
I guess whether he answers will be an indication of whether there is a hidden agenda. Will the government agree to table in the House of Commons for all of us to see, read and reflect upon the studies the government has undertaken with regard to pension reform?