Finance committee  Do you want me first or Mr. Swedlove?

Finance committee  Let's take the lifetime one first, and then we can come back to the increased age, because I know life insurers suggested a specific age, and they might want to comment on that. I think the idea of a lifetime limit—and, you know, I don't have a fully worked-out plan. There are a

Finance committee  I'm going to turn to my colleague Marion Wrobel who has looked at this issue.

Finance committee  There are funds like that, but I would say that the characteristic of a defined contribution, particularly over the long term, is that an individual's risk profile and needs are going to change and they are going to want to be able to... This is a characteristic of most funds, or

Finance committee  If the individual is comfortable with that particular fund and they have the choice to go into it, that is great. Our concern--and again, we haven't seen the details--is that if a new plan is put in place where it's automatic enrolment and because of inertia people don't go out o

Finance committee  We're very supportive of the discussions that have been going on at the federal and provincial levels, because the great danger, as I was saying earlier this afternoon, is that you will have a fragmented approach. Because we are one country and the retirement savings needs don't

Finance committee  If I could just add to what Mr. Wrobel has said, in a defined Canada plan, as you know, whether or not your returns are adequate for the payout at the time, there is that defined payout that you know you're going to get.

Finance committee  Well, that's it, however it turns out. One of the problems is that it comes down to the expectation of Canadians. If governments put in place a defined contribution plan, my sense is a lot of Canadians are going to say, “Thank goodness, the government is taking care of it, it's

Finance committee  Is the question for me?

Finance committee  I apologize, but I will have to answer in English. First of all, I would say that the worry about solutions, and that's very carefully defined here, could result in just shifting the savings from one pot to another. When we looked at the issue--and I'll come to the TFSA in just

Finance committee  On the national solutions, we like the TFSA. It's a new program and it's going to take some time to see how it works out, but our sense is that it's very popular. Also, it's very flexible, which is good. In terms of the national approaches, we would be distressed if we saw in i

Finance committee  No, no, I understand—

Finance committee  One of the issues—and I'll turn to my friends in the life insurance industry—is this: we haven't seen the details of an actual worked-out plan. Our concern would be that if you put in place in effect what would be a new government plan that has automatic enrolment, what are the u

Finance committee  Sure. Let me just sort of clarify. Our position on the idea of a supplementary plan I would characterize more as “Look before you leap”. Let's make sure, before anybody makes decisions to go down that road, that all the questions are answered. Now—

Finance committee  Thank you and good afternoon. I would like to thank the chair and members of the committee for the opportunity to provide our perspectives on Canada’s retirement savings system. With me today is my colleague Marion Wrobel, the CBA's director of market and regulatory development