Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.
When there is change there is anxiety about the change. It is true that people will call into a constituency office and say they are worried about the specifics of change which they think could adversely affect them immediately.
The first thing we must say is that there will be clear material given to people so they may understand the changes coming. With this budget we put out a special tax booklet identifying all the questions and answers relating to the changes in support payments.
We did another interesting thing relating to Revenue Canada. We allowed Revenue Canada, after the request from the Justice Department, to get information necessary to enforce payments of delinquent supporters. I believe this measure will go a long way.
I want to make it clear that Revenue Canada will not be releasing addresses to individuals requesting that information. However, we have done something to help with enforcement.
The changes we are talking about do not relate to visitation rights. That is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about tax treatment, a tax policy that will be implemented through the self-assessment process at Revenue Canada, which is the most successful in the world. Canadian taxpayers are honest for the most part. We are hoping to enhance the livelihood and to help with the real economic needs of children in homes where money is due to them from a non-custodial parent. We are changing the tax treatment to make it more efficient, more simple and faster. There will be concerns.
As a government we will spend money to assist in the administrative changes necessary. I can assure the House that the changes were necessary and were done after massive consultations. Members of the government crossed the country over a year ago asking for input from custodial parents. We got the input and we listened. Finally, after nearly a half a century of one system we are about to change and modernize our laws.