Thank you very much.
We need a model with the federal government demanding accountability—I totally agree with that—for the money that is spent, as long as it's spent on health care and not used to do other things, such as reducing taxes. For example, I live in the province of Quebec. The Charest government—I think it was in 2004, but I forget right now—provided us with a tax break of $600 million. The Conservative government was appalled by that, because it had sent the money for the health care system. So what happened? Personally, I had no health problems, and I got a tax break.
However, that's not the kind of country I want to live in. I believe in a country that takes care of its people. We have a duty to our country to care for people and to help those in our community. Cutting back on these programs and finding ways to engage in double-talk and blame the next guy is wrong.
I would add this. If the federal government has a good program and offers good money with strings attached, would somebody tell me that the provincial governments will not say, “Okay, we're going to reject $5 billion, or $3 billion, or whatever it is for health care or for pharmacare”? Of course they won't. They will take the money as long as the federal government maintains its availability and the strings that must be attached.