Madam Speaker, the member says it is not my money and he is right. The money belongs to the taxpayers of Canada. I am only one of them but I speak on behalf of others and they want us to pay down the debt, without a doubt.
The Vancouver Sun said “If the money had not gone into the pension plan, it would have been paid as wages to the employees”. That is the position the opposition takes. “It is an argument with merit”, the Vancouver Sun went on to say, “but it runs up against one with even more merit. The employer, the federal government, must make up any shortfall in the plan”—in other words, the taxpayer is the guarantor of the pension plan—“which as a defined benefit plan guarantees the amount of pension received. The employer”—taxpayer—“shoulders the risk and should get any reward”.
That is not a statement by a member of the cabinet. That is not a statement made by a member of the backbench in support of the cabinet. That is a statement right out of the Vancouver Sun . Members opposite who represent ridings in western Canada should listen to that.
The Montreal Gazette said “But fair is fair. If taxpayers were willing to take a risk to keep the plan solvent, they should get their money back if it is no longer required”. The Edmonton Journal said “The reason is simple: that is government money. If it is not needed to provide a fair pension to government employees, a fair pension not a sumptuous one, it is urgently needed for other purposes”. The Toronto Star asked “Whose pension surplus?” Whose surplus is it?. We know whose it is. It is the taxpayers' surplus.
This bill is responsible. Those members are trying to cloud the issue with some nonsensical statements about forcing something through. There has been over one year of consultations and there have been committee hearings. It is now in the House at report stage. In this case, democracy is working well.