Mr. Speaker, if I understand the member's question, he is concerned about the accountability of that plan. I note, in reading the legislation, that there is a whole process, a board of directors as a corporation which falls under our general corporation provisions and the duties of directors to that corporation. I noticed that there is definitely a requirement of external auditors so that the external people will basically review the operations of that and report directly not only to government but to the people generally.
It is not a closed shop. We do not have a bunch of people holding on to this money in a back room somewhere. The bottom line is the people who are going to be the beneficiaries of that plan will be able to see how their money is invested and will be part of the process not only directly through the public forum but also through their members and the fact that this is answerable directly or indirectly through the political process through the appointment of the board and so on.
It is not something the government wants to get involved in on a daily basis, but there is going to be constant visibility of the mandate of this board. I think basically that is what people are asking for.
In the old system we did not know. We were not very sure where that money was going. We had the idea that it was going back to the provinces and so forth, but nobody ever saw a financial statement actually showing clearly where the float of the Canada pension plan money was at any one time. I think this is very much progress and an improvement.