Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the amendments put forward by the NDP.
The object of the changes to the pension plan was to address the most needy of our country, our seniors and our elders, but these changes do not address that need. I will give examples of some members of my community, seniors and elders who live solely by means of their pensions. There are two of them who support a family and their eldest son is on a disability pension. He is disabled from the neck down. They must use their old age security and their GIS to support a disabled son.
The fact that the pensions are inadequate for those most needy is very clear and the changes were meant to address this need. Unfortunately $10 a month or $120 a year will not address the question of need. We must ask why these changes are being made. I agree with my colleagues that there are definitely winners and losers in this scene.
There will be $2 billion taken out of our pension plan. I feel we are trying to convince Canadians that by taking out $2 billion we will somehow be able to help them more. This just is not the case especially in our present society and circumstances where social housing is no longer available and those who need it most, seniors, will not be able to get it.
We have faced cuts to transfer payments, cuts to medicare with the federal government being the last payer at this time. We have faced a huge increase in the cost of prescriptions. These are all services our seniors desperately need. They are not working and they do not have the income to make up the difference.
We are facing the basic problem that we do not have the level of employment to support our pensions. This is a problem the present government refuses to address. If we had strong employment we would not have to be worried at the other end about the ability of our elders and seniors to get their pensions.
I attended a finance committee meeting in which the witnesses talked about how they would see our new pension fund being used. Their major point was that it should not have such a low foreign investment ceiling, that 20% just was not enough and that if you were sophisticated enough you could get around it. They believed people would be cheating. I was quite shocked at that attitude. They claimed that investing 80% of that pension fund in Canada somehow was not a good deal for Canadians when in fact it is a good deal.
Provinces should be able to access Canadians' money for infrastructure programs, for roads, for hospitals, for schools, for jobs, because that is good for all Canadians. The more jobs we create the more we will be able to support our seniors and our elders.
The changes being proposed are unfairly targeted at women and those who are expecting a disability pension. I do take exception to my colleague from the Bloc who alluded that people with a disability pension received it fraudulently. I do not know of anyone who has done that and I do not believe they would like to be considered as Canadians who are criminals by behaving that way. They should never be labelled as criminals because they have applied for a disability pension. It does no service to our citizens and to those who are more desperate because they cannot work and their only sustenance is from their pension, and one that is drastically inadequate at that.
It would be a good idea if the money from the pension fund that we are proposing would actually go to pensioners, but it is not. Half a billion dollars a year will go from public money into private hands. None of that money will be going to those who are poorest. None will be going to those who are getting an extra $10 a month. They will not be benefiting from those investments although I believe that is where the money should go.
The investment board should not be able to set its own standards. It should not be able to hire and fire its own auditor, set its own guidelines for ethical or unethical conduct. That should be done independent of that body. If we are going to have a board, it should be for the benefit of those in our society who are most needy.