Mr. Speaker, let me begin by welcoming back the hon. member for Calgary Southeast who has the very important responsibility of being a commentator on matters dealing with the social programs of this country. I am sure she will be offering constructive suggestions along the way which will be a refreshing change from what we have heard so far from members of her party.
First, if I could provide the hon. member with a word of comment or advice. It is unfortunate the hon. member is using language such as "the Canada pension plan is in crisis or in collapse", which I saw her being quoted as saying a few weeks back.
The Canada pension plan is not in a state of collapse. In fact it is providing very secure pensions for all Canadians. We will be changing the Canada pension plan as we are required to do every five years. The Minister of Finance will be meeting with his counterparts to discuss those matters because it is based on a pay as you go system.
We will have to look at funding the program to make sure it is sustainable for generations in the future. That is the position of the government: we want to maintain a sustainable Canada pension plan and we intend to do that.