Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the bill and I will give my reasons for it.
The reasons are simple. There really is no need to make the bill retroactive to January 1. It could have been made effective either at the date of royal assent of the bill or, as we had recommended, the day after the next election, which would have then prevented MPs from giving their own raise. That was most appropriate.
I also reject the bill on the basis that the 20% is excessive, given that all the other contracts that are being settled in the nation today are much less than that. If we look at the small pittance that seniors are given in the country, one could hardly justify giving 301 members of the House of Commons 20%, when seniors usually get less than 1% per annum.
I also take exception to the pension plan that was recommended by the commission to be 2.5%. Somehow when it got into the hands of the members on the other side it became 3%. Thus the annual amount that individuals will get ultimately is more than what they would get today given the increase in the pension amounts. That is against the recommendation of the commission.
I have been a labour negotiator for a number of years. I have negotiated labour contracts with various unions around the country and I have never seen a labour agreement that said people had to opt in and if they did not they would never get a raise again. Imagine if I sat at the table with the British Columbia Teachers' Federation or the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America or the teamsters, which I have, and said something like that? Imagine what I would be dealing with? That is the most preposterous position for anyone to take.
The government has a fiduciary responsibility as an employer. Because it is the majority government in the House, it becomes the de facto employer when it is dealing with pay and benefits. No employer in the democratic world would say that if people did not opt in the employer would establish two pension plans, two payroll systems and inequity between people undertaking the same identical jobs. It is unheard of in a democratic society. It is unheard of at a negotiating table.
I reject this. The trouble is that we are going to be made hypocrites over it if we do reject it and we end up signing into it because we would never ever get an increase again. The government wants to tell the public that people who do that are hypocrites, which is another sign that the government in its fiduciary management responsibility with pay and benefits has no integrity whatsoever.