Madam Speaker, I do not understand the hon. member's question. There are two major pension plans in Quebec's public service, plans that are entirely usual. There are risks in investing just as there are benefits in it.
What I mean is that it is the contributions of employers and employees that are paid in part into the Caisse de dépôt et placement, which manages the surplus on behalf of these two funds. What the committees keep is what they need to pay the pensioners' benefits. So the plan is not more risky than any other. The risk is shared, because the employer's and the employees' contributions are pooled and managed.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement has the mandate, trough two management committees, to manage part of those assets, so as to generate enough money to pay pensioners. There is not much difference between the three major federal pension plans and the ones in Quebec. They are essentially similar, except that Quebec has been doing for about 30 years what the federal government wants to do with the pension investment board, and we are very proud of that.
It should be noted that my presentation did not include any negative comments about the pension investment board. It is a great idea. What we disagree with is how the funds will be managed and the inadequate representation. Normally, the main stakeholders are involved in managing the funds. Our second point is that the government is once again making off with the contents of the till, like a thief.
I did not mention any names. I just said that the government was acting like a thief. This is not unparliamentary. Nothing prevents me from saying that this government is acting like a thief when it keeps helping itself to the EI fund, for instance, and its $25 billion surplus. Very few Canadians and Quebeckers agree with this approach.