I just want to go back to his point about why we're not supporting this amendment.
I'm actually astounded that members of the Liberal Party are supporting this. They talk a good game about programs of national import, like the Canada Health Act, for example. The Canada Health Act has restrictions on moneys that are transferred to the provinces. The Government of Canada does not transfer money through the Canada Health Act to the provinces unless the five principles of the Canada Health Act are met and unless certain other conditions are met.
The same exists with the Canada access grants. The Government of Canada does not transfer money to the provinces or to the territories unless they can assure us that they have a similar program in place, with standards similar to those that we've set out.
In essence, what you're doing here is getting rid of those standards. With respect to the Canada health transfer, it would be akin to getting rid of the Canada Health Act and the principles therein that make the funding contingent. In essence, what you're saying here is that the alternative payments will no longer be contingent on any sort of standard and that any province can do what it wants. Some provinces may have generous programs. Some provinces may have programs that don't address persons with disabilities or don't address those who are disadvantaged.
I'm quite astounded that you would, as federal MPs in a federal Parliament, put in place an amendment that would get rid of these standards that have been put in place and that have been in place, as a matter of fact, for decades. I'm not sure where this is coming from. As we've heard from the expert witnesses from the department, if you put this in place, in essence you're making the alternative payments not contingent on anything. With the exception of some sort of student program, there will be no standards across the country. Provinces can opt out and put in place whatever programs they want, and there will be no necessity for any of the standards that we currently have in place to ensure that Canadians, regardless of where they live in this country, have similar programs and similar access to social services.
So, again, I'm not sure where this is coming from, and I'd urge the members of the Liberal Party to take a second look at this amendment.