Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as Members may recall, following extensive public consultation, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment proposed major changes to the Income Support Program in 1996.
The changes were approved and implemented in January of 1997. Included in the changes were the establishment of the concept of productive choice, an alteration to the categories for benefits as well as changes to rates paid for particular benefits under the program.
Given the regulatory structure of the Income Support Program, it was necessary to make amendments to the regulations under the Social Assistance Act in order to implement some of these changes. The regulation giving approval for the changes retroactive to January 1, 1997, was approved by the FMB on January 13, 1997. However, as the result of a combination of factors, the regulation was not registered. When this oversight was discovered earlier this year, the regulation was registered. However, it could only be retroactive to the beginning of the 1997/98 fiscal year. This leaves three months during which the revised Income Support Program was delivered without the necessary regulatory changes necessary to do so.
The bill before you simply rectifies this oversight and gives legal force to the implementation of the program between January 1st and March 31, 1997. I will be happy to answer any questions Members may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.