I hear a member commenting that hopefully backbench members from the Liberal Party will support that. I do not hold out much hope for that because we have seen them before, when the orders come down they fold their tents and line up.
The amendments we brought forward in Group No. 1 are specifically designed to bring the accountability in this pension plan back to the Canadian people and to the employees covered by the plan. I will cover the thrust of the amendments for those who are listening and for those in the House today.
Motion No. 4 would force the board of directors of this new separately established pension board to maintain contact on an ongoing basis with the actuaries of each fund the board manages. In other words, this forces them to look at how the fund is actually being managed, to get the report from those who are looking at how many people are drawing from the fund, how many people are putting into the fund, how it is going to survive in the long term.
Our concern is that this appointed board with no accountability may not look at what is actually going on. It may make decisions without full consideration of the long term implications of those decisions. We are trying to bring some quality control back into the process.
The hon. member for St. Albert put forward Motions Nos. 8 and 11 which deal with reporting to the House who the appointed chairperson is and who are the members of the board. At present there is no obligation to inform us. Let us think about that. This is a public service pension plan for the employees of the federal government. This House, this institution, is not advised who is managing the pension plan as a result of this new piece of legislation.
Thankfully the member for St. Albert put forward some motions which would at least let us know what is going on, who are the players and hopefully their credentials for the job. This is the thrust of our amendments. Consistent with the Reform, we are calling for greater accountability in the management of public funds.
Let us look at some of the other Reform amendments. I look at Motion No. 16 which would force an act of parliament to be passed in order for changes to be made to the contribution rates. Who would this protect? It would protect the employees who are contributing to the pension plan. Without this protection rates can go up or down. If there is a surplus in the fund we know the legislation would allow the Liberal government to get a hold of it. This is a checkpoint, a way of controlling management of the fund and protecting employees from potential abuses.
Before there is any increase in the rates they will be brought before the House and an act of parliament would be required for them to be adjusted. It just makes sense. Without that there is no protection.
Let us look at Motion No. 32. Members can see the consistent theme in all Reform motions: greater accountability in the process. I do not have near enough time to cover all amendments on the the whole theme of the bill.
A number of amendments drive home the need for greater accountability, but I will not have enough time to deal with them. For the 51st or 52nd time the Liberal government has forced closure on important pieces of legislation so we cannot bring to light the critical considerations the Canadian public needs to be aware of to see how the Liberal government is mismanaging public funds. We are calling for greater accountability in this area.
With great chagrin I have to stop. I hope my colleagues in the House have heard my appeal. We have to bring forth some accountability by supporting the Reform amendments the hon. member for St. Albert has put forward on behalf of Canadian people and employees in this plan.