Mr. Speaker, I would like to add a couple of points. The parliamentary secretary has made very clear why the motion should be defeated. Page 58 of the report on the Canada pension plan consultations says that all but one presenter were opposed to giving the provinces continued access to CPP funds at below market rates.
As a result of those exhaustive consultations and with the requisite support of the provinces the issue is quite clear not only for the provinces and the federal government but for Canadians at large.
I also want to make one brief comment about the issue of the unfunded liability raised in the speech of the Conservative member. He referred to it as a shortfall of some $600 billion. Technically it is referred to as an unfunded liability, but in the context of corporate pension plans an unfunded liability determined by an actuarial report must be dealt with and provisions must be made to fund the unfunded liability for one very simple reason. Pensioners have to be protected. Should the business fail there would be no recourse to deal with an unfunded liability.
There is a difference, however, with regard to the benefits accrued under the Canada pension plan by today's workers which have not been fully funded. Finance officials have advised that should the benefits accrued by all current workers which continued to build up over the years require funding, we would need some 30 years of funded benefits put aside in the investment fund. Needless to say, that is a very substantial amount of money. Since that money is not funded it is in the hands of businesses. It is in the hands of Canadians, the premium payers of the CPP.
I should point out for the benefit of members the reason crude benefits to current workers who are earning credits for their pension plan are funded on a pay as you go basis. When the plan came into effect the then retirees had come through two world wars and a depression, the depression of the thirties and forties. We all know they did not have the opportunity or a full working career to be able to provide adequately for their retirement needs. As a result the plan was structured on what is called a pay as you go basis. Today's workers pay for the benefits of the then retirees.
We have an aging society. The ratio of workers to retirees is going down. This is one of the principal reasons amendments to the Canada pension plan are necessary. We have to move to an investment opportunity which will achieve higher rates of return than previously was the case so that the fund earning those rates will subsidize the premiums Canadians would otherwise pay.
It makes good sense. It certainly was the view of Canadians and experts that appeared before the finance committee that attention should not be seconded away from the principal purposes of the Canada pension plan, which is to provide a secure guaranteed indexed pension to all Canadians today and for future generations. That should not be jeopardized or undermined by either ancillary benefits or other activities such as regional economic development, et cetera.
In closing, the member from Qu'Appelle continues to suggest that the amendments being proposed by the NDP are reasonable and that the government has not accepted any of these amendments. It is a prime example of the motivation of the amendments proposed by the NDP being totally inconsistent with the objectives of Bill C-2 and the creation of the Canada pension plan investment board. That is precisely the reason this amendment should be defeated.