On the latter point, about the division of resources between administration and actual grant funding, I'd ask Mr. Brown to comment.
The point is simply this, Mr. Spengemann. We call upon the tri-services, as they're referred to—fire, police, and paramedics—to do extraordinary things. This memorial grant is something that the three services have been arguing for, probably for 20 to 25 years, as they come to the Hill every year to make their representations to government and to members of Parliament.
The House of Commons passed a motion on this topic about five years ago, one that crossed all party lines, expressing support for the principle. When I became the minister two and a half years ago, I was determined to get this into law so that, at whatever level a firefighter or a police officer or a paramedic is functioning, whether municipal, provincial, or federal, if the worst should happen and they should lose their lives in the course of performing their duties, the Government of Canada would, through this program, provide a tax-free payment of $300,000 to their families to acknowledge their service and to help, to the extent that money can help, in the difficult transition to the loss of a loved one.
We are in the process of public competition for an administrator of the program, an outside firm that has expertise in dealing with programs of this kind. This administrator would provide the liaison with the first responder community, providing information, setting up a website to assist them with information to handle the initial influx of applications, and so forth.
Hopefully we will not have many applications, but sadly we will have a flow. We've budgeted the funding on the basis of an actuarial analysis of what we might likely expect and on past experience. The effective date is April 1, so any deaths that occur after that date will be covered by the program. The administrator will handle the initial contact with the families, but it will be the Department of Public Safety that makes the final call with respect to eligibility for the program.
We want this to be smooth, generous, and compassionate, because that's what it's intended for: to assist those who have suffered the terrible loss of a loved one who has lost his or her life in the line of duty.