Mr. Speaker, obviously the hon. member was not listening. I did not question the credentials of anybody on the board. I did not address that issue. My friend across the way is looking at the little picture. I am looking at the big picture.
The little picture automatically assumes that it is best to invest all this money in the hands of one body. That is what we are arguing against. We are saying that is not the way to go.
What we are arguing is that every time the government has set aside money, ostensibly on the grounds to look after people, what has happened is the government has dipped into it. Whether it is the Canada pension plan before where the government was lending out money to the provinces at below market rates of interest, whether it was the EI fund which the government ripped off to the tune of approximately $40 billion, whether it was the public service pension plan which it ripped off to the tune of $10 billion, it does not matter which case we look at, what we find is that the government cannot resist a big pot of money.
I also point out to my friend that the claims he makes about the independence of the board in a way are irrelevant. The chief actuary of the Canada pension plan was supposed to be completely independent. When he gave the finance department information that it did not like and pointed out that the premiums that the finance department were proposing were not going to be enough to cover the deficit in the CPP, the department fired him. I would like to hear a response from the member to that.