Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. I thank the hon. member for his comments.
The question does not respond to the figures he gave between the year 1976 and the year 2030. However it is very important for the people to know that the Canada pension program is not strictly a program of the federal government. We did not simply decide that we would do this. The program is administered in co-operation between the provinces and the federal government. We did not arbitrarily say one day what we were going to do. We all know about the negotiations that went on.
We agreed to a 10 per cent increase. The fact remains that the Reform Party wanted to increase it by 14.2 per cent. If he is concerned about the numbers he has given me, in essence he is saying these are the numbers we will have with a 10 per cent increase over the next six years. He is not saying how wide the gap will be with their proposed 14.2 per cent.
Their programs do not provide for any disability phase of the Canada pension plan. As an employer I looked at it as part of the benefit package when it came to hiring staff. It was part of my obligation. When we moved over from health premiums and the employer had to assume that responsibility I was very happy to take it on. I made sure the health program had an infusion of money. It was my responsibility as an employer to make sure that based on the payroll deductions I had to contribute to the health system. That was one way of securing the health system would be there.
In essence the gap would be wider if we had gone with the Reform Party proposal.