The burden was passed from a federal system onto a provincial system. The people who paid in, those who contributed to the system and who are ineligible or cannot benefit, are turning to what is in place and what is provided by the provincial government. For these people, social assistance is provided by funds that come directly from the provincial government. Thus, they pay into a system at one level, the federal level, but are forced to turn to the coffers of the provincial government, which provides this program with its own money.
On February 28th, 2007. See this statement in context.