If it's going to be a benefit that lifts people out of poverty, as the minister said repeatedly in her evidence before you, it has to be synchronized and meshed with the provincial programs. If there is no understanding that this will be “in addition to”, then the default position of many, if not most provinces will be simply that it will reduce the amount of support they provide by way of social assistance, dollar for dollar.
The most recent example of that is the CERB benefit that was provided during the pandemic. The minister repeatedly expressed the hope—that's all it was—that provinces wouldn't claw back. In the end, it was a checkerboard across Canada. Some provinces clawed back fully, some partially, some totally and some not at all. The national benefit that was envisaged was a real hodgepodge for people living in poverty.
Therefore, it will be absolutely important that this happens.
Having said that, as I mentioned, the bill as it's drafted now requires that benefits be paid, irrespective of whether any provinces claw back or don't claw back. That's why the bill must be amended to better reflect the importance of the clawback issue.