Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this issue has some considerable history dating back, by my recollection, to the 13th Assembly, where we started moving on the issue of harmonization and trying to better integrate the programs to make them more efficient and effective for the people that are using these very much needed programs. It carried over into the 14th and then again into the 15th before there was any decision to finally act.
Our job, as legislators, is to look at these types of issues that are very important. They require significant structural change and a commitment to stay and try to work things through. I recollect the concerns about housing at the
time were significant, about the way they were located, the disconnect with the social workers, the disconnect with income support, and that we had to do a better job of trying to deliver this service. I believe the concept is a sound one. I believe what we're struggling with here clearly are implementation problems. If it's an implementation problem, then let's identify what the specific issues are, set some timelines and take a look at what's going to be done to improve this circumstance before we try to roll back significant structural change, transfers of tens of millions of dollars, positions, policies. We spent months working with the public to get them ready for this, and the issue of changing horses in midstream, throwing out the baby with the bathwater, we have to be very careful how we do this. So I'm suggesting we look at the implementation piece on this and if it needs fixing, as it clearly does from the concerns being raised to the MLAs, then we should task the responsible department to lay out the timelines and how they're going to address those issues and be able to report back.
With eight months to go, to suggest we do a major rollback of one of the biggest policy initiatives in this government, in the life of this Assembly, I think is going to be very difficult to do, and is not the right step, in my mind, so I won't be supporting this motion. Thank you.