Madam Speaker, like other members of parliament, I am not anxious to jump into this, but there is an element to all of this debate that we have to keep in mind and put into a certain context. It is very easy to say that we want to ensure fairness, that this bill is aimed at changing some anomalies that exist and that there are some technical adjustments that need to be made to ensure fairness. We have pointed them out ad nauseam as to the purpose of the bill.
Let us not kid ourselves for a minute. This bill is tailored to allow members of one particular party to opt back into a pension plan that they denounced. I take very much to heart the comments that have been made by the previous speaker. I believe him to be very sincere in what he has indicated. I do not do this with any great relish, but it is a matter of that was then and this is now. Those words were easy to say at one time and now they are a little bitter when they have to be swallowed.
I want to point out something that the hon. member for Fraser Valley said on this issue not that many years ago in debates in the House of Commons. On May 9, 1995 he said, “All Reform Party members are going to opt out of the pension plan because we stand on principle and do not swim in gravy. We are going to opt out”.
His leader that same day in the course of the debate said, “It is the intention of Reform MPs to opt out of the pension plan. We call upon every member of the House to do likewise. Opt out or get out will be the cry in the constituencies. It is the cry which must be respected if fairness and leadership by example and integrity are to be restored to parliament on any budget it endorses”.
That was obviously a bunch of malarkey. Now by virtue of this bill, as my colleague from New Brunswick Southwest has indicated, the reform members of the House are now swallowing themselves whole. They are completely capitulating on their earlier stances.
It was not so much what they said here that really hurts, that really makes it hard for some members like the member who was here in 1993 and was defeated. It is not just those members and the debate that is taking place here, but it is members that are not here who did not return and do not have the ability to collect a pension. They stated quite clearly where they stood and still stand, but now there has been a reversal of fortunes.
There has been a change in the mindset because individuals, in fairness, came here having said one thing and realized that things were a little different. The pension was not so sweet after all. It was not so easy to get on a plane and come to Ottawa and leave family and friends and a previous occupation behind. It was not such a great deal after all.
What this comes down to is having said one thing and now turning completely around. They have made a complete reversal of fortunes in their favour and have opted back in by virtue of this bill. That is what this bill allows them to do.
I know they do not like to hear this, but the unravelling of Reform principle is what we are seeing here. There is a thinly veiled attempt at reinventing themselves and what they said. There was a name change but all the while they kept the same policy, the same membership and the same leadership. A futile redundant exercise. A cynical attempt at re-branding. That is what this is all part of in the big scheme of things.
It is easy to find integrity after the fact. It is easy to opt into the pension plan, the same plan that the Reform Party railed against. They screamed like banshees and suggested that somehow it was completely malicious and untenable that members of parliament would accept some remuneration after the fact for the hard work they do. That was an issue that was not put forward by any other party. This was an invention, a tool, a spear that was used to impale other members of the House. Now it is impaling them. They are going to have to go back to their constituents and explain how they can do this, how they can swallow their principle now and take the pension, vote against it perhaps.
This pension plan will now be mandatory. Make no mistake about it. All 301 members of the House of Commons are in. When this pension plan passes, they are all in. Nobody is out. We have an added bonus and it is a stroke of genius. I am not questioning the government House leader's intention, it is a beautiful thing. It is the ability to buy back retroactively all of that pensionable time. Fair enough. Why not?
Nobody is suggesting that members of one party work any harder than members of another. Those members are entitled to pensions and we do not dispute that for a minute, but they should not tell people they will not take the pension and then take it. They should not try to hide behind some guise, as was seen in the last attempt to bring in a severance package that would set up two separate types of plans. There is the evil pension plan that members of parliament get and then there is the fine severance package that will be a lump sum that will go to Reform members. That is okay. A big lump sum payment is fine, but a pension is bad.
This reminds me of George Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm which we all studied in grade 9 or 10 in high school. I know, Madam Speaker, that you are a scholar and you will recall this story. We all recall the premise of what was going to take place in that famous novel.
The pigs were appalled at the farmer and the lavish life that he lived and the terrible conditions the animals were toiling in. In Animal Farm the animals gathered in the barnyard and talked about rebellion and what they were going to do to change things. They spoke in wild terms of equity and fairness and what they would not do if they had the reins of power. The animals continued to gather and whip each other into a frenzy.
Finally the rebellion came. Does this sound familiar? The animals gathered up their strength and courage and pumped each other up. They said they would do things differently if they ever had the chance. They chastised the farmer for his comfortable life. Remember the rallying cry, “four legs good, two legs bad”. When the rebellion was over the pigs moved into the house. They started walking on their hind legs and they took the comforts that the farmer used to enjoy and which they had previously opposed. Does this sound familiar?
In our current circumstances: reformers good, other MPs bad. That is what we have been hearing for 10 years. For 10 years we have been hearing “No pensions, no car, no clothing allowance, no Stornoway. That would never happen”. The list goes on.
The reform leader is standing in the House on hind legs. The barnyard buddies are also here. The moral of the story is that it is very easy to say one thing but when one is saddled with the actual reality of what is taking place it is a different story altogether.
That is what we have heard. We heard one story when that party wanted to achieve office, but now that it is in office it is a different story. The story does not apply anymore. The conditions are not the same. However, that will be for the Canadian people to decide. Opting into the pension plan, the same pension plan that everyone here is entitled to and reformers are entitled to as well, is not what a lot of them said they would do. Some of them did address the issue in an upfront way. What it comes down to is truth or consequences.
What happened to bring about the change? What was the crisis of conscience? What was the shallow pool of principle that caused things to turn around? It was simply the reality that some people may have to leave here and go home. They have families to support and, as my colleague said, they may have children or spouses who have made great sacrifices. Those are fundamental things that cannot be denied. They are fundamental things that every member of the House has to confront, yet that was put to one side when it was politically advantageous to pillar other members of the House of Commons on this issue. I would suggest that it was done with reckless abandon and malice aforethought.
It was easy to criticize something when reformers did not really know much about it. They came to the House, after having created this atmosphere of fear and loathing—and it has taken almost 10 years to go that full circle—and completely swallowed themselves from head to tail. What we have seen is a reptilian transformation, a shedding of the skin. Now it is okay to have a pension.
It is very easy to get up, speak emotionally, tell us that it is fine and that we wish things were different, but I am just one small voice. There are many members of parliament who feel very offended by what has taken place, particularly members who are not here and who were defeated, and perhaps very much on this one issue. It was made an issue. It was not something that was a creation of anyone other than themselves, which is what makes it so difficult and so distasteful. This is a bed that was made completely by the reform party, no one else.
It is very easy to criticize and vilify one's opponent, but at the end of the day, when it has come full circle, in the sharp light of day and the cameras are on, and we are being asked to explain ourselves, that is where it gets a little more dicey. That is where the reform party finds itself now.
The wrecking ball approach is simple: come in, destroy institutions, strike everything down and criticize. However, when harnessed with the reins of power, as we know this party never will be, it is different.
That is what the Liberal government has had to do. It is nothing new for the Liberal government. The reform party has been very critical of the current government but even this exercise cannot hold a candle to swallowing itself whole: the GST, free trade, privatization, helicopter programs. This government has not even begun to hold a candle to that record except the red book promises and the red faces that now exist in conjunction with that. I suppose there is some comparison with the green book and the envy and greed that might be associated with what is taking place now.
This debate, unfortunately, does take a bit of a nasty turn because it is personal for members of parliament, having suffered the slings and arrows of what was deemed to be outrageous fortune by the reform party, which now it wants to delve into it. We no longer see the plastic pink pigs being stuck in the front lawn of the House of Commons. Of course, that was part of the new dignity that was coming to this place, just like the mariachi band in front of the Senate, a class act. Those things certainly raised the profile and the feeling of dignity that members of parliament have for this place. Double that up with the Canadian flags being tossed on the floor and the old jalopy with the Canadian flags painted on it circling the parliamentary precinct, it certainly raised the profile of parliament. A new dignity.