Madam Speaker, the hon. member is engaging in a typical Reform misconceptual game of linking debt with social security payments and I think he is wrong. He is completely wrong because the social security system cannot be seen in isolation as a factor that runs counter to economic interest.
Whatever penny or dollar is spent in terms of pensions is returned to the economy very quickly through expenditures by seniors who certainly know how to use their revenue. Usually that revenue goes to the cornerstore, to the supermarket, to transport and other commodities.
Therefore there is no conflict between the well-being of the economy and the well-being of social security. On the contrary, by ensuring that our seniors receive an adequate pension payment, adequate security and the ability to live in dignity as they do now, we also pump the money back into the economy and everybody benefits from it.
I noticed on the part of the hon. member the same tendency as that of the hon. member for Prince Albert, a desire to spread some fear among Canadians about the future of their Canada pension plan. The Canada pension plan as it stands today is not in any
danger at all. It is a pay as you go scheme. It is a scheme that takes care of the immediate present and will be put in a condition to take care of future generations as the number of seniors increase by adequate adjustment in the contributory benefits.
In doing so we can look forward not just to a few years but decades and decades of Canadians having a pension plan that will at least meet the basic requirements of an individual. It is a system and a scheme that for the last 30 years, as a result of a fine Liberal measure, has served us well. I must make sure the hon. members of the Reform Party understand that the Canada pension plan does not receive one penny from the taxpayers. It is a self-sustaining plan.