There we go. That is from the NDP. Basically she says yes. There we go. If it is a non-union company then that would be out of the investment portfolio of the CPP.
Could we imagine those kinds of values being brought in on behalf of our seniors who are waiting to retire and waiting for a certain amount of money to come to them at age 60 or age 65? I just cannot believe that we are facing this kind of logic here in the House today when we have so many better things to do. Quite frankly, this is going nowhere. There is little interest in it.
What we have today is a major catastrophe facing this nation on the ethical values of a government. Yes, we have concern over the funding of the Canada pension plan, yet these people across the way in the Liberal government have basically stolen $100 million or better and thrown it out the door. If we wanted to really do something for the Canada pension plan, we would go over across the way and say to them that if they would just put a little more ethics in their own activities, we would have a lot of money for seniors and could put it in the right direction. To stand here today in the House and to speak to some kind of value process perceived by the NDP in the investment portfolio of the Canada pension plan, I just cannot believe it.
Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time with the member for Red Deer.
I want to speak about a couple of other things. The greater choice of the future of individuals lies in their ability to invest on the way through life. I would like to say that our party is in favour of looking at better options for investment, not just CPP, but options that perhaps would give better tax options to those who have RRSPs, greater flexibility to an RRSP style of fund, greater potential for increased income in their later years as opposed to reliance on just the Canada pension plan.
As we move into the next decade when we are going to see the Liberals replaced, I think we are going to see more of government potentially looking at seniors and how best they can be treated in terms of the maximization of their income at a fixed income level. I can assure the House and all those who are listening that it does not include a Canada pension plan that is based on investing in companies that have labour practices suitable to the government, contribute to environmental degradation, or whose conduct, practices or activities are similarly contradictory to Canadian values.
I also have invested in a number of environmental organizations over the years. Yes, I think that was my choice because I liked the kinds of products and the kinds of things they were doing in the environment, but also because I looked at the future growth and potential for myself and my family. It was not solely based on the fact that “it is a green plan, therefore I will invest”. There are many companies that are environmentally friendly that could not make a buck if they were in business for 40 years.
I can only say that I am disappointed that this kind of motion has been put forward to the House with such a crisis facing this country. I am also disappointed that some NDP members, if not all of them, are out there saying that this is the kind of logic they would put forward for all of the people retiring in Canada and this is what they would do for them. This program would be broke in a week.