Mr. Speaker, the Canada pension plan is $485 billion in debt and rising. To repay this debt the government has decided to tax young Canadians through premiums that are over two times what they should be. Canadians know that it is unfair to place so much of the burden of past Liberal mistakes on future generations. Many measures will be required to remedy the financing problems of the CPP.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce has proposed some measures that would help, the most important of which is that the limit on the CPP investment fund to invest in a diverse international portfolio be raised from the current 20% to 30% over five years.
Why did our finance minister turn his back on this sensible proposal, one that would have increased the fund's performance by as much as 1.5% per year? Why does our finance minister turn his back on future generations, many too young to vote or even to speak for themselves?