Madam Chair, I did not realize this before, but while I was travelling around doing my consultations, as was the parliamentary secretary, I learned that in order for people to have a pension they must work for the labour union or the government.
I think that is very unfair. My bill of rights is about levelling the playing field. We need to provide more opportunities for people to contribute to a pension plan and the supplementary Canada pension would provide that opportunity. Everyone who has a social insurance number in Canada would automatically be enrolled in the plan but they could opt out if they chose.
That would allow everyone, from homemakers, caregivers, farmers and the self-employed, to put an extra $100 into their supplementary plan. There would be no obligation on employers. It would be an individual's right to put that money in the plan. The plan would be well managed, be low risk and would have low management fees.
The reason some of the provinces did not support the plan was because of all the talk about the huge costs. However, Alberta and British Columbia were very much enthused about going in that direction. Unfortunately, they did not all have the adequate information to understand it fully. I am quite confident that with further discussion, they will be very supportive of that.