Mr. Speaker, I think it is important that we restate again today at report stage of Bill C-2, which is amendments to the Canada pension plan, that Canadians from all walks of life want assurances that the CPP will really be there when they need it and when they retire. They want assurances that it will never be taken away from them.
I think these are legitimate aspirations that everyone from all sides of the House shares. What we are doing is of course making sure that the financial sustainability will never again be at risk, that in fact the CPP funds will be invested in the same way as the private pension plans and that Canadians start to receive regular statements of their pension and earnings.
Specifically on the motions in Group No. 1, Motion No. 1 in particular talks about the conflict of interest procedures. I think it is important to note that the board's conflict of interest procedures will be made public and that will be subject to scrutiny not only of experts, but also the public at large. The conflict of interest provisions contained in the legislation are widely regarded by experts to be quite stringent.
I want to make a point of clarification. The first speaker as we kicked off the debate today at report stage made a point that the investment board was not independent. I want to state again that that is not true. It is an arm's length board.
The board will be working for the best interests of the plan members. In fact the whole basis of establishing this board is to ensure that it is an arm's length board and that there is accountability built into that board.
There was the comment about how women were being treated unfairly. It is important that we make reference to the gender analysis that was put forward that showed that in fact women would receive $2.56 of benefits for every dollar of contribution.
Motion No. 3 talks about appointing the auditor for a five-year term. I think it is also important that we make the point that it is standard corporate practice to appoint an auditor for one year, but nothing is preventing the board from reappointing that auditor for subsequent terms.
In the case of resignation or removal of the board's auditor, the act already requires that a statement explaining the reasons for the resignation or removal be sent to the finance minister and the finance ministers of participating provinces.
There has to be a reason for the resignation or removal by the board and that provides the accountability and the transparency. Again, I want to reiterate that the board is an arm's length corporation.
I want to make reference now to the two proposed amendments that the government has put forward, the first of which will in fact clarify that the auditor general will have access to all the information that he considers necessary to conduct his overall audits of the CPP. On the basis of this change, the auditor general has indicated that he is satisfied with the audit provisions of Bill C-2 and has written to the finance committee chair to this effect.
The second amendment will require that the CPP investment board be subject to special examination at least once every six years. Bill C-2 currently provides for special examinations but it does not specify the fact of minimum frequency.
I want to restate that these amendments are a result of the committee work and the contributions that the various members of the committee have made in the discussion on Bill C-2. The fact that we are moving to put a timeframe on the special examination once every six years is a slight change from the original motion that was put forward in committee.
That change is there to coincide with the review that is to take place every three years. The auditor general would have to perform a special examination on the second triennial review so if there were any challenges to the plan, the Minister of Finance would be able to address them at that time.
I have some additional information about the board and its accountability since there has been a fair amount of discussion in this first part of the debate on Group No. 1 on the accountability to Parliament and to Canadians.
The legislation makes the investment board fully accountable to Parliament and to the Canadian public. Experts in pension fund governance have praised the accountability provisions of Bill C-2 for being extremely rigorous. The Ministers of Finance and Human Resources Development will be required to prepare an annual report on the CPP which will be tabled in Parliament and also sent to the provincial finance ministers. The report will include the audited financial statements of the CPP investment board as well as the report of the auditor general in those statements in his overall audit of the CPP.
The amendment we have made clarifies a provision that was included in the bill already. It merely clarifies for the House that the auditor general would have had access to any and all information that would be required to complete his audit of the consolidated financial statements of the Canada pension plan.
We have responded to the issues that a number of members of this House have made with respect to the auditor general's access to information by bringing forward these two amendments. These amendments also address the request for the auditor general to conduct these special examinations over a period of time. We have indicated that every six years would be suitable since at the second review of the plan the finance minister would be able to address any issues of concern.
The board will keep Canadians well informed of its investment activities. It is important for us to tell Canadians that the board will be managing this large pool of money in a very transparent fashion. Canadians will be fully aware of this. The board will make Canadians well aware of its investment activities by making its investment policy standards and procedures public, releasing quarterly financial statements, publishing annual reports and the board's members will be holding regular meetings in each province to allow for public discussion and input with respect to their work as members of the investment board.
I will comment briefly on the last motion which is related to Motion No. 23. It requires that any changes to contribution rates resulting from the three yearly reviews by the federal and provincial governments be subject to public consultation by the finance committee. The finance minister has stated over and over again that any major changes to the Canada pension plan in the future will be subject to consultation with Canadians and that all changes to contributions require the consent of two-thirds of the provinces and two-thirds of the population.
Any changes large enough to require legislation would always be referred to an appropriate committee of the House for review as a matter of course.
Therefore there really is no need for this proposed motion. The process is already in place. It is a standard process and one that the Minister of Finance is on record as stating he asked for.
With respect to the motions which were put forward in the first grouping, I want to say that certainly every member of this House is committed to ensuring there is financial sustainability in the Canada pension plan. The changes to Bill C-2 are responding to the public consultations which took place over a period of time. Canadians had an opportunity for input and to talk about what they would like to do and would like to see happen with respect to the Canada pension plan. The message was overwhelmingly that they wanted to have the Canada pension plan sustainable, safe and in place for them in retirement. The changes in the amendments being put forward in Bill C-2 speak to those concerns of Canadians.
I look forward to the speedy passage of this bill so we can continue to do our work in ensuring that we reflect the priorities of Canadians as we move forward.