Mr. Speaker, in response to the member's question, should there be better legislation dealing with pension protection? My answer is definitely yes. Although the member would appreciate that it is not a simple federal issue. There are federal components and provincial components.
However, situations have arisen where workers in Canada worked all their life and paid into a pension with the full expectation that the pension would be available when they retired and for some reason, outside their own conduct, that pension is not available or is not available to the level that was expected or agreed upon or contracted for. In those cases, we as legislators have failed those individuals.
The member is aware that the financial press is reporting that up to 50% of the larger pension plans in Canada are presently underfunded. I know the pendulum on stock market performance goes back and forth, but it is a very difficult issue. The actuarial evaluations that are done are very complex. This is something that I am hopeful that we as legislators will address, whether it is a pension or a pension withdrawal. But the point is that we cannot allow workers to lose their pensions.