We also learned on Monday from the officials who appeared before us that the reason the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, as it stands now with the penalty in place, was established in the first place was just to give the provinces flexibility. Currently under the Canada Health Act it allows for a minimum wait period from province to province. The government did not want this to be the same for social assistance. Now the government is making it clear with this amendment to this bill in the BIA that Canadian citizens and permanent residents must stay exempt from any minimum wait time in order to align with the original intentions. That gives power, if you will, to equal the provision to what Canadians and permanent residents get today.
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