Let's just look at the facts now: 48% of the people who live beneath the poverty line, all over Canada, are working; and in some of those homes, they're holding down two jobs at minimum wage, which is insufficient to actually meet their requirements. They're still beneath the poverty line.
So the notion that a whole bunch of people are sitting around drinking beer and watching television is one of those myths.
Will there be gaming of the system? Of course, there will be. There's gaming of the system now.
And what kind of disincentive does the present welfare system impose? We had one case of a young person who applied to get a Province of Ontario student loan, because as a single mother she had worked herself into the circumstance of getting admitted à une institution postsecondaire. The minute she applied for the student loan she was cut off welfare.
That shows just how much the system goes against the real needs of our fellow citizens.
We know that if she goes to school, her chances of paying taxes, being a solid contributor, are huge, yet we have a provincial system that has been in place under various governments—cela n'a rien à faire avec la partisanerie—that actually penalizes her for trying. That's where we have to say something here is fundamentally wacko.