I heard an hon. member opposite say: "We will". We will hold them to that promise.
I caution the government about making the same mistake with welfare as it is making with health care, which as members know, is another purpose of the Canada assistance plan and transfers to the provinces. The government has promised social security reform based on a co-operative effort among the federal and provincial governments. Clearly this is not happening. Evidence of this is in the refusal of some provinces to attend a scheduled briefing on health care.
The government makes the same mistake with this welfare program and decreased funding levels which it must and is doing. However it has to give the provincial governments the freedom to adjust to these changes and target funding appropriately.
The provinces cannot be punished by having to reduce their spending or having to figure out alternate ways of paying for these programs that are only partially subsidized by the federal government. Whereas they should have been subsidized to a higher degree, the federal government reduces the funding and the provinces have to look for ways and means to pay for the programs and then they are cut off. We know it is a problem but we just wish the government would be more aware of it.
Currently despite the fact that constitutionally welfare is strictly under the control of the provincial governments the federal government enforces national standards through the Canada assistance plan and regulations. We have a few concerns about this area. Alienating the provinces along with cuts which decrease the federal spending power may make it difficult when it comes to the social policy reforms being planned for in the fall by the minister of human resources.
Overall we recognize the need for significant reform and the reduction of federal transfer payments to provinces to balance the budget. We just have a concern about the overall plan or strategy.