Workers, labour and trade unions are all the same. Let us have some trade union representation on the board. Trade unions represent workers. Trade unions represent the people who work in this country. There should be some trade union representation on the board. I moved an amendment during the debate on this legislation a few years ago in the finance committee.
I said that the pensioners should have some kind of a voice as well. There are 12 people on the board of directors. Why could there not be labour and pensioner representation, current pensioners and future pensioners? It makes sense. We have that kind of representations on other boards as well. We have boards that have stakeholders on them.
It is not prohibitive, but it is up to the judgment of the Minister of Finance and the recommendations of provincial ministers of finance. The provincial ministers of finance do not appoint somebody to the board; they make recommendations. If the provincial minister of finance in New Brunswick recommends someone, that person is only on the board through the grace of the federal Minister of Finance. Again, it centralizes so much power in the hands of the Minister of Finance.
Let us open it up and be a little more democratic. There are all kinds of precedents for representation on boards. The new crown corporation for air security has on its board representation from the stakeholders, from the airport authorities and the airlines.
The finance committee accepted my amendment to have representation of the trade unions to represent the workers on the board. That was overturned by the House of Commons on a recommendation coming from the Prime Minister's office.
It is not a radical idea. It is just a matter of opening it up and making it more democratic and more accountable for the Canadian people. What is wrong with having pensioners sit on the board? What is wrong with having workers sit on the board? They would provide valuable input for the people who are making the decisions as to where those investments go.
The last point is the ethical screen. Why would there not be an ethical screen that would disallow investment in tobacco, for example? The federal government is spending all kinds of money on an advertising campaign saying that people, in particular children, should not get hooked on cigarettes. On one hand the government says not to get hooked on cigarettes and let us get away from tobacco. On the other hand, the CPP Investment Board can invest in Phillip Morris and other tobacco companies. It does not make any sense. I am surprised how conservative the member across the way is.