Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in the third reading debate of Bill C-78. I understand that we are dealing with a group of motions this afternoon. I want to refer specifically to Motions Nos. 2 and 3, as well as Motions Nos. 9 and 10. These are motions which have been put forward by my colleague from Winnipeg Centre.
Motions Nos. 2 and 3 deal with the ethical investment of the pension fund and specifically suggest that they not include tobacco sales or manufacture or promotion. They also would exclude pollution or environmental degradation, labour standards and practices which are inferior to those required by law in Canada, and any practice or activity which may result in the elimination or contracting out of the jobs of members of the plan.
Motions Nos. 9 and 10 simply make reference to the fact that the Auditor General of Canada should be the primary auditor of the public sector pension investment board to protect the interests of the retirees and those who will be retirees sometime in the future. I certainly stand in full support of those valuable recommendations.
I would like to make some general comments on Bill C-78 and to say that this is a closely watched debate. I know that because I have heard from many constituents in Saskatchewan who have spoken to me about this issue. Some have met with me as recently as last week in the riding to talk about their concerns. I know the government knows it is a closely watched debate. That is why it is ramming this through as fast as it possibly can. That is why it has introduced closure. The government has refused to hold cross-country hearings because it does not want the people to come forward to vent their spleen and anger at what is happening with Bill C-78.
Simply put, the approach of the government is to commandeer $30.1 billion and to appropriate that unto itself. There is no hint that it is prepared to share this surplus with the retirees or the current public sector workers in any way, shape or form. There are basically three groups which have or are contributing to the plan: the government, the pensioners who have contributed over the years, and the current employees who are contributing. As I said, the surplus stands in excess of $30 billion.
This affects public service superannuation members, folks who were employed by the Canadian forces as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
When we debated this at second reading a week or so ago the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board indicated to us that one of the reasons the government was commandeering the $30 billion was because the government has to guarantee any deficit and it has to ensure that the pensions are paid out. The parliamentary secretary indicated that over the years the government has paid out some $13 billion.
If we can just picture this, the government has paid out $13 billion according to its figures, but it will grab $30 billion. Where in the world is the equity in that proposition? It has refused to share this with the other two groups that have contributed over the years. It is the old adage, “What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine as well”.
We have seen this movie. The member for Dewdney—Alouette was talking about movies. There was another pornographic film around and that was on the $26 billion grab that the government made on the employment insurance fund a few years ago where there was absolutely no money and even less justification from the government. It put none of that money in. It was all employers' or employees' money, but somehow it appropriated that unto itself as well.
When the government takes the $30 billion and runs with it, who is left in the lurch? The people who are primarily left in the lurch are women. The average pension, not the bottom end, for women in the public service is $9,600 per year. Again, that is not the low end. That is the average received by these folks who have worked over the years earning low wages, having their salaries frozen, not qualifying for equal pay for work of equal value or anything of that sort.
That is why the government wants to close this debate down as quickly as it can because it knows how high the feelings are running out in the country on this issue. That is why it chose to stonewall any suggestion from the member for Winnipeg Centre, or others in our caucus or on this side of the House, that there be cross-country hearings.
Once upon a time the Liberals, when they sat on this side of the House, saw this issue much differently than they see it today. At that time, in the 1991-92 period, they proposed that any surpluses in pension plans should be resolved by binding arbitration. That was then and this is now. Then they were sitting to the left of the Speaker and now they are sitting to the right of the Speaker and they have a whole different approach to this issue.
I submit that what is happening is not only a shame, it is also a sham. Obviously, with its majority the government will get its way on this issue today, but I predict that there will be a day of reckoning because the government has not heard the last from the retirees on this issue. I suggest that it will rue the day when it absconded with $30.1 billion.