Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak about the Income Support Program and the need to look at, review it and revisit the direction it has taken. At the start of the 13th Assembly, social assistance was taken out of Health and Social Services and transformed into income support and moved to Education, Culture and Employment. All social assistance recipients became income support recipients, including from one end of the spectrum of those unable to work, the disabled, the elderly, the sick, as well as the whole spectrum up to and including those who were employable but who maybe were temporarily just in need of some assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I believe there is a need to look at how well that program is working to meet the needs of the more disadvantaged in our society. I do not think that one size fits all. I do not think the Income Support Program as it is now tailored and designed has the capability to be responsive and to recognize the different conditions that people find themselves in, the different physical states and capacities that people may have.

Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned for those people who are unemployable, who are disabled, who will never work through no fault of their own, who are too old or are possibly incapacitated through illness. I do not think the system right now meets their needs as well as it could. Later today, I will be asking the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment whether he would be prepared to take a look, after almost five to six years of the Income Support Program, to consult with the various stakeholder groups to see if there is a better way to design the system that is supposed to be a safety net for all our people. In some cases I believe the mesh of the safety net is too big. We have to design a safety net that catches and provides support for all our citizens in the best way possible. Thank you.

-- Applause