Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for La Prairie. Two things in his speech struck me. First, what he said about pensions and second, what he said about the budget estimates.
The hon. member said that the government was going after the pensions of people who had contributed to them all their lives. The hon. member is surely aware that life expectancy among Canadians increased by three years over the last twenty years to reach 80 years for women and 79 for men. He probably also knows that in the next 15 years, baby boomers will reach retirement age.
My first question is this: What alternative can he propose to make sure that today's workers who will reach retirement age in the next 15 years can count on a fair and equitable pension plan? Does he suggest to raise right now the rate of contributions?
My second question is a matter of simple arithmetic. When comparing our situation with that of the European economic union, he said that the Minister of Finance was incorrect when he stated that our next deficit would be at 3 per cent of GDP, but that it would rather be at 5 per cent. Can he explain how he got that number?