Mr. Speaker, those workers have continued to be in the plan, despite working for CNL, for the last three years. It is also a fact that the government, in this year's main estimates, is requesting over $1 billion to fund the operations of CNL. Effectively, that money will go to AECL and then be transferred to CNL for the management and operations of those facilities, including paying those employees.
The fact is the government continues to pay the salaries of these employees. They are effectively working for the government. The government is asking for over $1 billion to pay those workers to do the good work they do. They deserve to be able to continue to have their pension.
What is the new way of doing things that the government is talking about? Instead of giving them a flat “no” on their pension, will it lead them on for over a year, with meetings with the Minister of Natural Resources, the President of the Treasury Board, and the PMO, just to to reach the same conclusion ultimately? If that is what a new way of doing business is, no thanks, we will wait for a new government that would actually do something for these workers instead of drowning them in platitudes when they are concerned about their pensions.
It is shameful that the government does not even have the decency to report what it believes it would cost to keep them in the plan. That means the government is making the decision without even bothering to have the information. We deserve to have that information here in the House. Those workers deserve to have that information. They deserve to get the pension they signed up for when they started working for AECL and the nuclear industry.