Mr. Speaker, first of all most employer pension plans work the way the member describes, except one, namely the one that the members in this House voted for themselves. In that one the public puts in six times what the member puts in. That is why it is unfair.
Second, one of the principal differences in what we are talking about here is that the CPP contributions are a legislated mandatory compulsory contribution whereas participation in employer-employee pension plans are usually voluntary.
The third point and the most important one is that the finance department itself defines CPP contributions as a payroll tax. This is not the Reform Party; it is a division of the minister's own department.
That is the explanation.