Madam Speaker, there needs to be greater efforts in ensuring transparency, both in terms of the criteria of investments and that all Canadians are aware of what the criteria for investment would be.
By and large with this fund the criteria ought to be the maximization of the retirement assets of Canadians. For example, there have been some representations by some members of the New Democratic Party, among others, that there be ethical requirements in terms of the criteria of this fund. I do not believe that is necessarily appropriate.
Canadians can make those decisions in terms of other investment pools, but really the responsibility here is to maximize their retirement income. So that is one part of it. There needs to be a transparency in that regard.
There needs to be annual reporting of the returns of this fund. From an accountability perspective that is important. The Auditor General ought to have a greater level of scrutiny powers over the fund. This makes a great deal of sense and is consistent with what we have called for in the past.
While I support the discussion about the movement of Canada pension plan funds into earlier stage investments, some of which are outside of the realms of the publicly traded markets, the venture capital industry earlier stage investment, I think that in the long run these are a good idea. They are a good idea for emerging technologies in Canada and will ultimately work out well for the CPP.
When we are getting into these areas of investment the level of expertise at the board level is critical. This is a board that has to be well beyond reproach because of the importance of the mandate that is given here. This is the future retirement incomes of all Canadians. Canadians do not choose this board. It is not like buying a mutual fund where Canadians can evaluate the track record of the fund or the board or the quality of the management team.
That is why the government can do a better job of ensuring that the appointment process is beyond reproach. The fund is the most important fund in all of Canada in terms of a pension fund. We expect transparency, the Auditor General's scrutiny and the appointment process of the board to be absolutely essential. It is unimpugnable.
In a general sense I share with the hon. member her concerns in this regard.