Mr. Speaker, most in the House, indeed most Canadians, will understand very clearly the commitment that the government made to ensure that down the road we have a pension system that is not only fair to people today, but is fair to those who will need it later.
It is not news to members, certainly on this side of the House, of the wisdom that was shown by the hon. Minister of Finance in providing a new regime that will ensure sustainability of the pension system. Most of us here campaigned on this. It was an issue we discussed in the last Parliament.
It is very clear at least from the perspective of many members, certainly from Ontario and right across the country, that what we said is what we are about to do. I have no trepidation in saying that in years to come I will be glad and so will many of my constituents that the benefits and fruits of this nation will be shared for generations to come.
I do not think one has to go too far to understand how we wound up in a situation where the initiative of this government and of several provincial governments who agreed to this formula came about.
The reality is that over the years this was a situation that we allowed to happen. We simply allowed it to transpire. We knew that the demographics of this country were changing.
With the benefits of a health care system brought by, in many respects, the father of the hon. member and finance minister, and as a result of the medicare system which this party introduced many years ago, people are living longer. The standard of living is high, very much as a result of the progress and the initiatives taken by the Liberal Party of which I am a proud member.
In order to sustain that program, in order to ensure that we have a viable pension system, someone had to take the bull by the horns.
I am therefore rather proud of the initiatives taken by this government to ensure the survival of our pension program.
No one in the House will be surprised to know that if nothing had been done by the government in Bill C-2, it is conceivable that in a few years the pension system, the program that helps our seniors, the disability benefits, the maternity leave which many, including my wife, take, would not be there. It would not be there in our time, in our generation, and perhaps even within the life of this Parliament.
I have heard hon. members opposite lamenting and saying “This could have better invested. We could have done a lot of other things differently,” but the reality is that I do not think we walk around with a crystal ball in our hands anticipating what the problems are in the future.
When we strip away the politics of all of this, when we take away the partisanship that often clouds a decision that has to be taken, we find that what is being done is necessary.
As members know, I did not take my MP pension. Yet I believe it is very important to understand that most people of our generation would appreciate and would applaud what this government is doing today.
I am pleased to speak to the issue. I am pleased to speak to the very necessary changes that are about to take place over the next little while.
We are in a period of transition. It must be clearly understood that, if we want to move into the new decade, the new millennium that is approaching, it is absolutely vital that we recognize problems before they arise.
The provinces that were involved in the negotiations dealing with the changes to CPP earlier this year also recognize and gave approval to the need to move ahead. I do not think that what we are doing here is extraordinary.
I know there are those who believe that we should be doing other things, that there are all sorts of wonderful proposals out there. It is far different to be sitting in the opposition knowing that you do not have to take seriously the reality of government than it is to be in a position where you are governing and you have to make decisions that will count, decisions that will stick and decisions that will sustain themselves over the years to come.
We have one of the youngest communities, myself and the hon. member for Whitby—Ajax who I am very pleased to say has done a spectacular job as a member of Parliament and previously as a councillor. I know we share in the common view that short term pain sometimes means long term gain, but in this instance we are not talking about gain for some. I think that is what separates us from the opposition, the Reform Party.
We are here to ensure there is a modicum, a standard and a benchmark by which Canadians at the lower end of the economic spectrum will never be let down. That is a commitment that goes to the core of the Liberal Party.
It is one of the reasons that we also understand that we cannot get mired down in some of the wacky ideas that we can somehow spend our way out of these problems. We understand people. We understand the economics of the country in the 1990s as we go into the new millennium. We also understand that if we want to sustain and we want to maintain programs that help people in a way that ensures equality, we have to take decisions that are sometimes tough decisions.
I am prepared to say today as a member who is often very outspoken on a number of issues that this is an initiative that I can support. I support it because, and it may be trite to say, it is the right thing to do. Members from across this country in years to come, in particular some of the members on the other side who are a little lighter in age as I am—well, I do have until next week at which point the age of wisdom kicks in—will appreciate that colleagues of their own, friends of theirs and neighbours will be taken care of and the initiatives taken by this government at this time in our lives helped. They helped to bring people together, they helped to make sure those people had the very basics.
I noticed a smile from my hon. colleague in the New Democratic Party. I can say that it is very very good to see so many shining beaming faces. It is great not to be a rookie. I know that hon. members in the short term will be very happy after the next election because I am sure that a pension will not be too far away for them. There will be an opportunity for them to enjoy the very things we are putting forth today.
The economy is growing. There is no doubt the result of the decisions taken by the Minister of Finance with respect to bringing down interest rates is giving the engine of the economy the kind of drive that is taking place. In communities where we once saw many closed shops and people out of work, we are now seeing a full recovery in bloom. That did not just happen by accident.
We could also compare ourselves with what happened provincially with our counterparts in the province of Ontario who believe that to slash and burn is the way to go about things and at the same time wind up at the end of the day continuing to perpetuate a deficit. We chose the balanced approach and we found lo and behold after our commitments in 1993 and 1997 that the balanced approach does indeed work.
There will no doubt be much controversy surrounding any decision taken by a government that dares to lead and dares to challenge the wisdom of those who would like to say “Let us leave things the way they are, let us maintain the status quo”, but this is a government that is prepared to move ahead. This is a government and a minister that are prepared to seize the agenda for the future and to seize an agenda that puts in its first instance all the interests of Canadians, particularly those who are the most vulnerable in our society.
I was just told by the member for Whitby—Ajax that that is the Liberal way. I could not put it more eloquently and I terminate on that. Let us move ahead with this bill.