Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to take part in the debate on this bill to establish the public sector pension investment board.
It is another measure designed to allow the Liberal government to take money from taxpayers. This government is very consistent. It always has a scheme to appropriate funds, and the one who designs these schemes is the Minister of Finance. Members will recall that, in recent months and recent years, it was the Minister of Human Resources Development who designed a scheme to take money from the unemployed. This resulted in a surplus of some $26 billion.
We know what the federal government did with these $26 billion. It created programs to interfere, once again, in areas under provincial jurisdiction.
This time, the Minister of Finance has called on another one of his accomplices to help him, and that person is none other than the President of the Treasury Board. He has asked him to find another way to grab funds. This scheme will allow the Liberal government to get its hands on $30 billion, and that money will not come just from anywhere: $14.9 billion will come from the public service pension plan, $2.4 billion from the RCMP pension plan and $12.9 billion from the Canadian forces pension plan.
The most frightening thing about this scheme is that, once again, the Minister of Finance and the President of the Treasury Board did not hold any consultations regarding Bill C-78.
What do we see in this bill? We see that the President of the Treasury Board has ignored his commitments, just as the Liberal government has been doing since it came to power in September 1997.
How is the board going to be managed? Members should listen to this: the Liberal government, through its ministers, will appoint board members. First the chairperson will be appointed by the President of the Treasury Board in consultation with the other departments concerned.
The consultation will not take long, all they will have to do is check whether the nominee is a card carrying Liberal, how much he or she contributes to the Liberal Party coffers, and whether he or she approves the Liberals' mistreatment of the poorest of the poor. This is the main criterion.
Two members will be appointed by the President of the Treasury Board on the recommendation of the advisory committee. One will represent public service employees. Again, very partisan appointments, which will not represent the interests of the parties concerned by Bill C-78.
Then there will be a member chosen by the minister among pensioners.
Again, they will check whether the nominee belongs or contributes to the Liberal Party. This is how the government goes about making appointments.
In short, this means the government is once again poised to create a new Liberal commando that will take all necessary steps to attack the surpluses in three pensions funds.
It is very sad to see how the government has been operating lately. Furthermore, it is giving a bad example because, if it is going to unilaterally take money from pension funds of the three plans I have mentioned, there will be people in the private sector who will be encouraged to do the same, which could put at risk the surpluses in the pension funds of several dozens of employees. The federal government's action could have bad consequences for workers in Quebec and in Canada.
There is nothing much positive in this bill. We see once again the government using its old methods to take money from the poorest. Federal Liberals were very successful at this with the employment insurance fund, and they are ready to do the same with this bill to establish the public sector pension investment board.
How can we get federal Liberals to listen to reason? How can we make the people opposite understand common sense?
The more we move into this arrogant system, this authoritarian system that does not respect anything and that develops a more and more centralizing government, the more we see it ignores all jurisdictions, all institutions and all things that were established in the last 10 years.
To take the money it wishes to have at its disposal to implement more partisan programs, the government is prepared to do anything. It is prepared to invade all areas of provincial jurisdiction and private sector areas to raid billions of dollars.
If the President of the Treasury Board does not support the amendments put forward by the Bloc Quebecois, then my party will certainly reject out of hand the establishment of this public sector pension investment board.
We will vote against this bill, unless the government takes the time to go over our amendments. Given the way the Liberal government is behaving, the way it respects democracy and listens to the people, I fear that Bill C-78 will give them even more power to take money out of the pockets of taxpayers, of people who have worked hard and have served the government for many, many years.
To reward them, the government is taking money they have earned through their hard work and using it for some unprecedented propaganda, probably some programs to demonstrate once again how generous the government is, when its generosity is only about appointing its friends to manage this new board and extending a helping hand to Liberal supporters.
There was no consultation. Board directors will be appointed by ministers. Bill C-78 has me very concerned and I will definitely vote against it.