Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today on Bill C-78, which is essentially, for those who do not know, a bill giving the present government the power to get its hands of $30 billion in surplus funds in the federal employees' pension plans.
We are not talking here of $30 million, but $30 billion. This is a bill that gives the federal government the power to get its hands on that money and to use it as it sees fit. In other words, this gives the government a great deal of power, even allowing it, to a certain extent, to treat those who have contributed to this pension fund most unfairly.
What gives the federal government the power to do this is a grey area of the law. There is apparently nothing in federal law at this time that governs the use of pension fund surpluses, nothing that makes sure they are used in a reasonable manner or in the taxpayers' interest.
This grey area allows the federal government to act in this way, to pass Bill C-78 and to get it hands on the $30 billion or so of federal employee pension fund surplus.
In my opinion, this is a grave injustice because, when it comes down to it, there appears to be absolutely no concern for the interests of those who contributed to this pension fund. Nor does the interest of the public seem necessarily to be served.
Such action is precedent setting. If the federal government helps itself to the surplus in its own employees' pension fund, what is there to prevent any company from helping itself to the surplus in its employees' pension fund, as used to happen? Several examples were given in the House of companies that relied on this argument to dip into the surpluses in their employees' pension funds.
What the federal government is doing with Bill C-78 is unfair. It is setting a poor example for companies and decision makers.
There are several indications that it is acting in bad faith. The President of the Treasury Board has not even bothered to appoint to the board union representatives or employees who have contributed to this pension fund. Rather than opening up the board responsible for managing this pension fund to people who truly represent contributors or to union representatives, the President of the Treasury Board has decided to appoint a group of people. The reason is obvious; these people will defend the interests of the federal government rather than those of actual contributors to the fund.
I am not in the least surprised. What did the federal government do for unemployed workers? Exactly the same thing. Unemployed workers contribute to employment insurance, but the government is making it increasingly difficult for more than about 36% to 39% of them to qualify for benefits. Sixty per cent of workers do not qualify, although they contribute to the employment insurance plan.
This is of course unfair. It is also a misappropriation of funds. The unemployed or the workers who contributed to the employment insurance plan expect the government to use the money to create jobs, particularly since, in the case of employment insurance, the federal government does not contribute one penny to the plan. It is the workers and employers who contribute to that plan. The money belongs to them and it should be managed with their best interests in mind, not those of the federal government.
This government is trying to find oblique ways to get as much money as possible, whether it is fair or not, as in this case. This is unfair, and even immoral and dishonest. The government collects a lot of taxes and has a lot of debts. Taxes have increased considerably since it took office. Since 1993, there have been about 38 increases. The overall tax burden in Canada has gone up about 15%. We are paying something like $30 billion more in taxes than we did in 1993.
Canada is among the countries with the highest tax rates in the G-7, the OECD and the industrialized world. This statement is not from me, but from the OECD, which says that we are one of the most heavily taxed nation in the industrialized world.
Instead of lowering taxes and acting fairly and equitably, the government is using oblique ways to take money out of the pockets of taxpayers, including its own employees. It is grabbing the surplus in that pension fund to use it for its own purposes.
As has been said, this is dishonest. It is a kind of piracy. The Minister of Finance is Captain Morgan, who has decided to break into the treasure chest of his own crew. The Minister of Finance is Captain Hook, pillaging his own crew a second or third time. I am not sure how many times, but this is not the first time that this piracy has taken place. Taking $30 billion in surplus from one's own employees' pension fund is indeed an act of piracy
We in the Bloc Quebecois are proposing some amendments because, basically, there are honest ways of handling a surplus, ways that are not hard to understand. There are many examples, in Quebec and elsewhere, of handling funds in compliance with legislation. The purpose of our amendments is to suggest to the government fair, respectable and honest ways of handling the surplus in the federal employees' pension fund.
There are plenty of examples. The 1985 act suggests all kinds of ways to apply pension benefit standards and ways to see that surpluses are, in some way, returned to those who contributed to them. There is a whole series of measures that could be implemented so as to respect the interests of those who paid into a pension fund.
First of all, the legislation created must not only ensure that the money gets back, one way or the other, to those who contributed it, but also a committee must be struck to represent unionized workers. The President of Treasury Board does not seem to be contemplating this possibility. The government has decided instead to reject outright anyone who could speak for the workers, opting instead for appointing people who will speak for the government. To what end? To get their hands on the surplus in the public servants' pension fund, that $30 billion, and no doubt to use it for other purposes. Once again, this is a roundabout way of taxing people. Unfortunately, this is a most unfair way as well.