Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's comments and I certainly appreciate the way he laid out the issues. It is clear there are some important issues.
I agree wholeheartedly with his comments about the Reform proposals. The opposition leader in his speech said that we have to make the survivor benefits fairer and that there should be a fairer distribution to middle and high income Canadians. It is absolutely outrageous that he should be fighting for high and middle income Canadians when we have people living in poverty. The Reform Party has no social conscience.
During the public consultation forums one of my constituents, Mr. Phil Connell, appeared before the panel. He wanted to share his numbers with us. He has been retired for seven years.
During his employment he contributed $18,607. He computed the interest and found that his share was about $9,300. In the seven years of receiving the Canada pension plan his total receipts to date are $54,287. My constituent, a senior who is getting very generous benefits, $5 out for every $1 that he put in, said that this is scandalous and must be changed.
The hon. member for Qu'Appelle laid out comments about each of the initiatives the government is proposing to deal with the need to get the cost of the CPP down. He said we should have retained the disability benefits and the survivor benefits. He said we should not shift the burden of the price to the youth coming along in the future. He suggested there should be absolutely no change.
We cannot have it both ways. Can the member please advise the House, if he is going to protect everything that is there already, how does he propose to save the Canada pension plan?