Mr. Speaker, I would indicate to this House in my comment that I think it is so unfortunate that what we do is we emphasize messaging.
The Liberals are saying over and over again “We want to preserve the Canada pension plan because it is so wonderful. If we don't, all these poor people are going to suffer”.
Here is the brutal fact. No one who has a low income or no income or who is poor is paying into Canada pension. Therefore, they are not eligible for benefits. That is a fact. The government keeps passing it on as if that is not true. It keeps trying to connect this. The fact is that anyone who has an income, who has a job and has deductions for the Canada pension plan would have that same amount of money available for RRSPs or other investments which he or she could choose, get a much better rate and end up with more money.
While the government is saying it is protecting the poor, what it is in fact doing is taking from particularly the middle income and the lower income people who are paying into the Canada pension plan, and it is giving them a tremendously poor return on their investment. It is somehow trying to message and image that as being the great heroes, the Liberal Party, saving the country from all these woes.
I would like a response to that.