Madam Speaker, the member who just spoke was privileged, as I was, to be in committee to listen to the evidence and the experts so that we could evaluate and judge this legislation well.
One of the things we heard from the chief actuary of the fund and from others is there are of course no guarantees at all that the contribution rate of 9.9% will not continue to rise.
First, I would ask the member what he says to Canadians who are very concerned about this escalating and almost sure to continue escalating mandatory contribution which many Canadians find to be a real hardship.
I read some letters today in my speech. I wish I could have read more. I received 4,000 of them, but I had to pick and choose. Those letters contained heartfelt pleas from young, struggling, single parents, parents of young children as well as a young couple who are living in their truck. They all said that they cannot afford these continued costs.
What does the hon. member say to these Canadians? Can we afford to continue to pay more and more for less and less?
The chief actuary and other witnesses confirmed that although people are making very substantial contributions to the CPP, they will only receive a 1.8% return on their investment over their lifetime.
Canadians are struggling. They are being mandated to pay a very substantial amount of money every year into this plan and they will receive far less than the value of their contributions. How does the member justify this to Canadians? How can he look Canadians in the eye and say “Pay this. You are not going to get much back, but we are going to make you pay it anyway”? What does he have to say to Canadians who are struggling?