Madam Speaker, I would like to express why I am so supportive of the government's Bill C-2.
It is a demonstration that we are willing to restore Canada's faith in its pension plan. We are dealing with this pension plan in a businesslike manner. It is one of the things that we hear more and more lately: The community is asking the government to operate as a business.
There were extensive hearings in partnership with the provinces from April 1996 to June. It was a David Walker committee. The reforms that this government is suggesting reflect the wishes of those people who were consulted.
I have heard hon. members opposite talk about a contribution to the Canada pension plan as a job-killing payroll tax. When I consult with the small business people in my area, they say that contributions to the Canada pension plan are merely the costs of doing business and that if your bottom line indicates you can hire more people, you will.
The Canada pension plan has aspects of it that I think demonstrate the kind of country Canada is. We have insurance benefits. We have disability pension and survivor benefits. They, too, reflect the kind of character that we heard Canada wanted in its pension plan.
The Canada pension plan is not a wealth redistribution plan. It is a plan that will be there for all Canadians. That is why I feel that it will restore the Canadian belief that a pension plan will be there for our children and our grandchildren.
I would like to speak to Group 6. Motion No. 11 speaks about deleting the new contribution schedule rate. One of the things that the reform to the Canada pension is doing is establishing a sustainable rate that Canadians can rely on. The suggestion that we do not deal with the increases both on the part of the employer and the employee would put the sustainability of the Canada pension plan at risk. That is the very issue that this bill addresses.
The suggestion by the hon. member opposite that we not raise the contribution rates would mean that the plan would be bankrupt by the year 2015. The Canada pension plan has an unfunded liability that these reforms will deal with, again in a businesslike manner.
Motion No. 13 by the member opposite talks about removing the year's basic exemption and freezing it. The year's basic exemption is the portion of earnings on which contributors do not pay premiums but receive benefits. Under the proposed changes, the year's basic exemption will continue at its current level of $3,500 rather than growing on the line with average wages. By freezing the year's basic exemption at $3,500, more and more very low earning workers will be eligible to contribute to CPP and receive benefits from the plan.
Earlier the member opposite talked about a very compelling letter by a constituent whose husband works six days a week. I believe there was real angst in that letter. Those kinds of people do not have the kind of money that they can contribute to the super RRSP plans that have been suggested by the Reform. That is why it is fundamental that the Canada pension plan be there for all Canadians in their retirement.
Motion No. 22 speaks about deleting the requirement for increased contribution rates to cover the cost for new or increased benefits. When we had hearings with the provinces and Canadians in the communities we visited across Canada, one thing we heard about was the fact that they did not want current recipients to be impacted and they wanted it to be there, to be sustainable.
Of the 9.9% that we will go to and stay with, 4.3% goes to pension contribution, 1.7% would go to the insurance component. Again I would underline that that is something Canadians said that they wanted to see in their Canada pension plan. .1% goes to administration, which is a very low percentage when you look at private pension plans and how they are administered, and 3.8% would go to the unfunded liability, which is the very point this government needs to wrestle with in order that this plan be sustainable.
This is the first step of many. We are going to look at track 2 in dealing with other issues that we heard Canadians were concerned with. Bill C-2 is a step forward and something that all Canadians need for their future.