Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, CPP contribution rates will have to rise to adequate levels to ensure the long term viability of the plan.
These increased contributions must be more than offset by substantial reductions in other taxes like EI. This means more money going into the plan without asking Canadians to pick up the tab and without creating more threats to job creation. As a result, the CPP will get the funding it needs without increasing personal tax burdens.
Canadians need to know that never again will their pension funds be mismanaged the way they have been in the past. They also deserve a greater return on their investment. For this reason there must be a complete restructuring of the financing of the CPP to secure it for the future.
Many young people today are already sure they will not have the CPP when they need it. In my riding I see young people who have a lot of trouble finding jobs that would allow them to earn a decent living and plan for the future. The NDP amendments would let them foot the bill for us. The NDP wants all sorts of benefits and all sorts of goodies. That is just not right. I cannot support that. I cannot support putting my children's future on the line.
As the only effective opposition in the House of Commons it is our role to explain to Canadians that there are alternatives to the government's position. The government is trying to steamroll these changes through parliament and the official opposition party has been too inept to stop it. Canadians deserve real policy alternatives, not just opposition while the cameras are rolling.
It is with some dismay that we have seen the government suggest reckless changes to the CPP which would affect Canadians long after the government has been forgotten.
In good faith we presented a series of amendments to the legislation during the committee hearings. The government rejected all our amendments and then proceeded to introduce watered down versions of what we proposed. Its amendments are too little too late but show how effective opposition and effective policy alternatives can influence change to misguided government legislation.