Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak in support of Bill C-2. It is one of the most important social policy initiatives of the last several years.
Since a Liberal government established the Canada pension plan a generation ago, it has become a cornerstone of our retirement income system. The CPP has contributed greatly to seniors' dignity and independence and has helped us drastically reduce poverty among seniors.
The CPP is also symbolic of the kind of society we as Canadians have built, a society where we encourage individual effort but strive to use our national wealth to ensure a basic standard of living for all.
The legislation before us today represents values, not just the values of the Liberal government which introduced the bill, but more important, the values that Canadians from coast to coast to coast embrace. It is about protecting today's seniors. It is about ensuring that we in the baby boom generation pay our fair share toward the Canada pension plan. It is about handing down a viable public pension system to our children and grandchildren.