I greatly appreciate that move on the part of the Minister, but what we are committing to here is an ongoing, ever-increasing subsidy, as the Minister said in his own words in response to my first question.
In 2013 the Auditor General’s report found that 90 percent of the income assistance files they reviewed did not meet one or more key system requirements. Not only is this a huge administrative cost, we are not getting value for money. The system is broken and we are no longer closer to the considerable improvements required. We have an opportunity to start from square one with a guaranteed basic income that will save money and has better outcomes, according to the research that’s been done.
Will the Minister commit to researching the feasibility of a guaranteed basic income, streamlining the system and freeing up money, freeing up money wasted on administration that could be put to better use helping the people who need it?