Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to welcome all members back to this place. I hope they all had a great Christmas and a great break.
The Minister of State for Finance would never intentionally mislead the House, so I will offer correct a part of what he said in his speech.
When he talked about the NDP plan and the rising cost to employers and that, he left out one important component. Should this plan to double the CPP be put in place, three years before it could even be implemented, there would a seven year additional phase-in period. I want to be very clear on that.
In his speech the minister spoke about the capacity for bulk buying that people would have under the PRPP. We already have bulk buying under the Canada pension plan. It has a proven track record. It is portable across the country. That is clearly the best vehicle.
Most important, the PRPP would be subject to exactly the same market pressures and potential market failures as RRSPs.
Why is the minister moving in this direction?