Mr. Speaker, the question could be put to people who put their savings away today. What happens to savings in a bank today if the bank goes broke? I think the hon. member realizes that banks have insurance, that those funds are insured. The system would virtually be no different.
I would like to turn it around. What is ensuring Canadians today with all the deposits they have made to the Canada pension plan that they will get anything? It has been administered by a government that has run the fund virtually into the red. It is over $500 billion in the hole. The liabilities in the Canada pension plan are over $500 billion. That is of a far greater concern than possibly some bank that may go under.
The government can regulate this kind of thing. We are putting the suggestion out there. It is something that can be explored by Reformers and the government.
A much more serious problem is being overlooked, the fact that the government will not meet the commitment it made to senior citizens. Years down the road it will be unable to fulfil its commitment.
Interest at the present time is eating into our social programs to the point where it will not be very long that we will be paying more interest-and it may be at that point already-than we will be getting back in social programs. This is how critical it has become. This is why we need to look at alternatives and this is one alternative that should be seriously considered.