Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
Hon. members will recall that because of the opposition expressed by several provinces, Ottawa was forced to cancel at the last minute a federal-provincial meeting on social program reform which had been scheduled for April 18 last.
The Minister of Human Resources Development is preparing to meet one-on-one this week with his provincial counterparts to outline the major components of his social program reform package before convening at their express request a federal-provincial meeting.
Can the minister tell us if the package he will be presenting to the provinces still recommends that unemployment insurance and social assistance programs be merged with a view to establishing a guaranteed minimum income program?