I have been listening.
It is nothing more than fearmongering and trying to get people upset. I want to give an example.
I received an e-mail from Mr. Greg Jones, a constituent of mine. Mr. Jones wrote “I am a retired police officer and if passage of this bill will negatively impact upon my pension plan or pension plan surplus, do not allow the bill to pass”.
He sent along a copy of an ad that has been placed in one of the Toronto newspapers by the Public Service Alliance of Canada and a number of other union organizations. Who knows, there might have been some financial contribution from some party in this place, I say to the members of the New Democratic Party. The ad says “It is about the heist of the hard-earned dollars set aside by workers for their retirement benefits”.
The government is guaranteeing their retirement benefits in this plan. The government is putting the pension for the public service employees into a state where exactly the opposite of what is being said in the advertisement is the case. The pension plan is not being threatened in any way whatsoever.
The ad goes on to say that experts—and of course they do not say who they are; they might be certain opposition critics—warn that this legislation could set a dangerous precedent and encourage private employers to do the same thing. What is not pointed out is that any private sector pension plan must conform to the rules of the Income Tax Act. One of the rules says that the surplus buildup can be no greater than 10% and once it reaches 10% it must be dealt with in some way.
It makes sense to bring what is a very generous and well earned—I would not take anything away from the public service employees—pension plan into compliance with the Income Tax Act. It is a secure pension plan backed by what could obviously be one of the most secure institutions in our land, the Government of Canada. It is a very secure bill. In reality it does not conform to the rules under the Income Tax Act. This bill will allow the cabinet, the governor in council the flexibility to ensure that it does conform.
I want to say to Mr. Jones and all the retirees out there, do not be misled by the rhetoric in this place or by advertisements that tell a little bit of the story. This is not an attack or a grab in any way on the security of the pension plan that Mr. Jones and his other retired colleagues enjoy.
If government members were not allowed to put facts like that on the table, if we were to acquiesce to the members opposite and simply sit here and say nothing, then the kind of information that is being perpetrated in this ad in a close to fraudulent manner would simply be added to. People would get upset and rightfully so if they really thought that the government was in some way attacking their pension plan.
We are dealing with amendments in Group No. 3. The pension plan is secured and primarily funded by the taxpayer. Yes, the workers make a contribution, but the vast majority of the contributions made into this pension plan are made by the taxpayer, not by the worker. Of course I do not see that in the ad and I do not hear it in speeches by the opposition members.
The contribution rate to the pension plan is roughly 70:30 with 70% being contributed by the government, which is the taxpayer. In fact, if we were to extrapolate the existing pension plan over the next one and a half years, that contribution rate would change to 80:20 unless we did something about it. Does it seem to make sense that when an employer is contributing between 70% and 80% of the money that secures the pension plan and the employee is contributing 20% to 30%, that somehow that equates to an equal contribution?
That is the argument members of the NDP would put forward, that this is the money of the workers and somehow it would be increased wages if it was not put forward in a pension contribution. They know that is not true. They know that these contributions were fought and won at the bargaining table. I do not have a problem with that.
I would say that if we are to allow the curve to continue to where the employer will be making an even more inordinate percentage of the contribution toward these plans, then the taxpayers would have a right to ask us, as a government, why we are doing that.
We cannot compare this in any way whatsoever to a private sector pension where the contribution rates are much more likely to be on a 50:50 basis rather than this large discrepancy. To compare this and to get people upset in thinking that this is the thin edge of the wedge and all the private sector companies that provide pension plans for their workers are going to threaten the security of the pension plan is fearmongering. It is misleading. It is putting out information that is not based on fact or truth. It is a serious bit of unfair propaganda being put before the retired people.
That is probably one of the most distasteful things about this. The opposition and some of the unions, the leadership not the rank and file, are putting out information that is getting people worried. Those people are relying on their pensions. Maybe they are a little bit worried about their economic situation. They have had to go through an enormous change. They are no longer earning a full salary and are now living on a pension. It is a time of life when they should be able to feel some comfort in my view. They should not feel that they are under siege.
For individuals here or in the labour movement to get people upset in some attempt to mobilize what we would fondly refer to as grey power is a misuse of the political process. It is an unfair tactic that they are using in getting these folks upset.
My point is it is vitally important that members on this side speak. I have no problem and would never suggest that members opposite should not partake in the democratic process in this place. When there is a bill or a resolution on the floor, whether or not there is time allocation, we all have a responsibility. I represent retired federal workers. I have a responsibility to tell them how I see this bill, to tell them why I support this bill, and not to simply sit here and allow those folks to mislead.
One of the amendments by the hon. member for St. Albert deals with the issue of requiring contribution rates to be in an act of parliament. This is a move that the opposition, primarily the Reform Party, is attempting to bring in to this place so that every bit of regulation, every bit of dotting the i 's and crossing the t 's, must be a full-fledged debate in parliament.
We all know that the process calls for the big picture. The legislation is to be debated, passed and enacted by parliament and the regulations are to be handled by the staff of the Government of Canada. We know that and we it is appropriate. To do it the way the hon. member is suggesting would create a gridlock. It would make it impossible to make the changes that we think are vital to secure the future of the pension plan for all public sector employees.