Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Clearly, what is hidden in our discussion is the long-term shortfall that even goes back to Liberal governments. Mr. Chair, you are aware that the initial agreement on health transfers was that greater participation from the feds was intended. That is a problem that the government refuses to deal with. At the moment, the discussions we are getting into now are quite pointless because of the planned increases. The provinces are far from being comfortable, given the particular situation each finds itself in. Take Quebec as one example: more than a third of Quebeckers have no family doctor. That is a symptom of a far deeper problem, actually.
There is another way of looking at it. Of course, when you restrict growth that way and impose an agreement on the provinces, it also restricts their ability to deliver certain services. When we looked into the matter of GST and HST exemption, we also saw each of the provinces establishing their priorities, but also as a function of their ability to offer the services.
So, unfortunately, the government's proposal simply does not solve the problem.