Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the member for Kamloops. Over the last four years I have known him to be a member of Parliament who really cares.
I was happy to hear that he agrees with certain parts of the CPP. Of course there are parts that he does not agree with. When we take the bill to committee we will tinker around to see if we can make it agreeable to everybody.
I would like to question the member on his thought about the increase in CPP causing unemployment. That could be a concern. I have raised the issue of CPP disability before. I raised it with a member of the Reform Party as well.
Currently 300,000 Canadians are receiving CPP disability. Another 50,000 in Quebec are receiving QPP disability. For 1997 that will amount to $10,597 a year or $833.17 a month.
If CPP does not exist in the same way, what would an insurance policy cost to replace those benefits? The whole workforce would have to become involved in it. If they did not have an insurance policy they would not have coverage.