Madam Speaker, I would like to provide some background on both the process that led us to the conclusion that we should work together to enhance the Canada pension plan and the impact we expect it will have on Canadians and our economy.
First is the process. We were very clear with Canadians in our election platform that we wanted to work to enhance the Canada pension plan, because we recognized that so many Canadians were finding themselves with less of an opportunity for a pension down the road because of declining pension plan participation. That led us to present that to Canadians. We then presented that to our provincial counterparts and talked about that decision and got consensus that we all were seeing the same thing: a real challenge in future opportunities for Canadians to retire in dignity.
What we came up with was an approach that was very gradual but that would lead to significant impacts over the long term. The gradual nature of that approach, starting in 2019 and going out to 2025, means that for both individuals and businesses, there is an opportunity to move very gradually and have a modest impact.
More importantly, we then did research to show that, in fact, the long-term economic impact will be positive for the economy and positive for employment. That was the research that led us to say that this is the right thing to do.