Mr. Speaker, when we look at the facts, I think we have to conclude that the former government, in 1997, was correct to raise the contributions to the CPP, but the investment board idea was probably not such a good plan.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was incorporated as a federal crown corporation by an act of Parliament in December 1997 and made its first investment in March 1999. As of March 31, 2009, the fund is currently at $105.5 billion.
When the Liberals set up the board, they told Canadians we could make higher returns on our savings in the CPP if we were to invest in the stock market and in private investments instead of government bonds. That has not worked out so well.
In 2008, the CPP lost $23.6 billion. In fact, the annualized rate of return since these great investment geniuses took over 10 years ago is only 4.3%.
That 4.3% has amounted to a total benefit of $23.8 billion over the past 10 years. Had the money simply been left in long-term government bonds, the fund would have been $13 billion more if they had left the whole thing alone in the first place. Without the fund, the plan would have earned $36.5 billion, as I said, $13 billion more.
The question is why not simply get rid of the board, go back to where we were before, and save $300,000 to $400,000 in salaries plus all these bonuses, the $7 million in bonuses that are paid on an annual basis? Why are we doing that? Why do we not simply go back to where we were in 1997?