Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member opposite admits that the CPP needs reform.
He also talked about how the plan was improperly set up in the first place, in a sense, and admitted basically that it was a pyramid scheme. At least with that I say he is beginning to address the problem.
When he talks about investment does he really mean squandering? With the money that has been put into the plan, he and his party have run up a half trillion dollar debt. The Fraser Institute puts the number at $1 trillion. His own government puts it at over $500 billion.
Who am I to trust? Am I to trust the members across the way who have done such a poor job with the money they have been entrusted with, or am I to trust the people themselves to look after a plan? I would trust myself and other Canadians far more than I would trust the government with the money.
Once again I quote the statistic for those young people who are watching and listening today. If they put full maximum contributions into the CPP they will get only $8,800 a year. If they collect from 65 until 75, should they live to 75, they will only get $88,000 out of that plan. If they had their own plan they would get $26,000 a year or $260,000 by the time they turn 75.
That is far different from what the Minister of Canadian Heritage will get with the $2.8 million pension she will collect by the time she turns 75, or the $3.4 million that Brian Tobin, who is now collecting money as the Premier of Newfoundland, will get. It is a travesty. They should be ashamed.