Mr. Speaker, the retirement system in this country effectively has three pillars: the OAS, the GIS, which as a result of our changes projected ahead we are going to ensure will be there for young Canadians and the Canada pension plan which we will be discussing next week with the provinces in order to make sure it is there for young Canadians. There is the whole scheme of retirement plans and RRSPs which have extensive tax benefits to ensure that a number of the people the hon. member is referring to will have a decent pension.
I remind the hon. member that our changes will take place in the year 2001. Those who are currently 60 years of age or over will be protected whereas the plan that was suggested by the Reform Party would have effectively gutted seniors' pensions immediately.