Mr. Speaker, my surprise stems from the fact that this government had the gall to actually introduce that legislation without making some kind of statement.
Nothing has really changed. The MP pension plan is still astronomically rich. We will still receive twice the national limit. Those benefits are still indexed against inflation and there is no cap on ministerial pensions.
Maybe the class of 1988 and the others who will choose to join me in opting out of this pension plan could change things from the inside. The legislation that was tabled is not acceptable.
Why did the government rule out replacing the entire MP pension scheme with a more realistic private plan such as other Canadians receive, one dollar for one dollar?