Madam Speaker, I am astonished at the hon. member's remarks. I wonder whether he is not in fact trying to mislead the public. I could point out many things he said that are really very far removed from the truth, one of them being that the minister sponsoring this bill is acting with open-mindedness.
There is no open-mindedness when a minister tries to impose the government's will, as is happening here, without establishing a committee where pension fund contributors would be represented. It is more like an abuse of power on the part of the government. I cannot see any open-mindedness in what the minister is doing.
He is also trying to make people think that the government is acting in the interests of pensioners and taxpayers. Making people pay twice, as this bill does, is robbery.
It is as if the people who have contributed to this pension fund, whose surplus is some $30 billion, were being made to pay twice, because the government is acting contrary to the interests of pensioners and the general public by grabbing huge amounts of money rather then turning them back to the people who paid into the fund.
This is double taxation. This is a hidden tax. That is the truth. My colleague was trying to convince people that he is working in the taxpayers' interests. That is a falsehood. Our colleague has made a deliberate and intentional error.
Basically, the government's intention is not to act in an open-minded way. It has even imposed a gag on debate, scarcely an hour ago, because it was so anxious to stifle the debate on this misappropriation of Canadians' pension money.
This is not being open-minded. This is not defending the interests of pensioners or taxpayers. It is making the taxpayers pay twice.
I would therefore call on my colleague to comment this. Does he still maintain that the minister who introduced this bill is showing open-mindedness, and is making the taxpayers pay twice for this pension fund really seeking to help them?