Mr. Speaker, I have been listening intently to the member for St. Albert. He made some rather negative comments about the Canada pension plan. I would invite the member to come to one of the several senior citizens homes in my riding and say the denigrating things that he has said about the Canada pension plan. I am wondering how long he would last in a senior citizens home.
Elderly men and women worked hard to build this country. They worked hard to support the Canada pension plan. They contributed a considerable amount of their own wealth to the Canada pension plan. The very last thing they want is for some government to abandon their hopes and the Canada pension plan.
The word from the senior citizens of this country to the government has been very clear: "We want you to secure the Canada pension plan. We want you to secure the future of the Canada pension plan. We dare you to destroy the Canada pension plan. We dare you to weaken the Canada pension plan".
Government members have listened to those people and we have responded. We have done exactly that. We have secured the future of the Canada pension plan. We have done that because Canadians have told us that we must show that we have a social conscience and that we have a collective responsibility to each other, which is totally unlike the Reform Party of Canada. That party believes in a kind of pernicious individualism; everybody for themselves; the law of the jungle, that we do not care for each other.
Those are not our values. They are not the values of Canadians. They are certainly not the values of the elderly citizens of this country. We support the Canada pension plan.
Of course the Reform Party neglects to say that the contributions to the CPP will be increased over a period of six years. The premiums have been increased because we want to secure the future of the CPP. That is exactly what we have done.