Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to this issue, especially to add to these statements we have just heard on Motions Nos. 10 and 12.
These two motions have one thing in common. The present pension plan is inadequate, it has insufficient funds for the long term. If this decision is delayed, it is the future generations that will bear the impacts. This is unacceptable.
The amendment proposed by the Conservative Party attempts to link the reduction in contributions to employment insurance. From the point of view of business, this makes sense to a certain extent, because it would offset any increase in their payroll taxes. However, going as far as the Conservatives would like us to go can perhaps jeopardize the employment insurance program and have an effect on this program and also on the positive aspects of these initiatives.
We already know that the reduction in employment insurance benefits has had an effect. Repeat claimants are affected by seasonal unemployment and have to bear a 1% reduction of their benefits. It is not their fault if there is seasonal unemployment.
We have to be careful with this because it can affect the program. I used to sit on the human resources development committee, and we in the Bloc were opposed to changes in the employment insurance system. Today, we are still constantly reminding the government that it made an error, that it went too far in its cuts to employment insurance.
I would like to come back to the Canada pension plan. The situation is a bit similar, the fund has to be sufficient to provide for the future. A Quebec success story is often mentioned, the Caisse de dépôt et placement. It has been in existence for at least 25 years, and it has had positive results for Quebec.
This bill will allow among other things to manage this money by creating a fund, and this would be more efficient. It would allow an increase in assets and ensure the future of the Canada pension plan for ordinary citizens.
People can talk about payroll taxes, but often these taxes exist for the benefit of the whole population, especially the underprivileged. As you know, it is not everyone that can have access to a pension fund through the workplace. Not everyone works for the government, for a municipality or for large companies that have pension funds. There are people who cannot benefit from these.
There are also people who, because of their family obligations, like single mothers, do not have the opportunity to contribute to RRSPs and to plan for their future, when their children will be grown up and will have finished their studies, etc. Very often these are people who have few assets, and this plan allows many people who are less fortunate to know that they will at least have a basic minimum for their retirement.
We have to be careful when we touch this. The people concerned form a very large part of the population. Very often, they are the less fortunate, the underprivileged in the system. I think that the government acted too slowly in proposing better contributions in this area.
Any amendment that proposes to slow down or reduce rates and to improve the management of this fund to better plan for the future in the interest of future generations is worth considering because such action is urgently needed. However we, in the Bloc Quebecois, oppose Motions Nos. 10 and 12, especially since Motion No. 12 has a connection with the employment insurance.
As I said, we believe that the employment insurance plan is a plan that was considerably thinned down by the Conservatives. We remember the impact of the cuts made by Minister Valcourt, who lost his seat in New Brunswick. The Conservative government was severely criticized for its lack of compassion for the unemployed. In spite of their promises, the Liberals did the same thing during their last mandate. They too got their just reward; in the maritime provinces in particular, where seasonal unemployment is widespread, election results spoke volumes. Voters made it clear first to the Conservative Party, then to the Liberal Party, that they should be careful.
We, in the Bloc Quebecois, will not be counted among those who wish to slow down efforts to improve the pension situation of ordinary people.