I'll defer a little bit to my colleague Keith Newman about this. He is an economist, and he may have some comments.
I actually find myself in agreement with Mr. Goldberg, because the problem has been that the provinces have successfully managed to play a bit of a blame game here and point the finger at the federal government for areas that they are responsible for. I think the federal government and Mr. LeBlanc quite rightly pushed back on that over the summer, following the meetings of the premiers in Victoria, by saying, look, we do fund a lot, and we expect to see some outcomes. They took issue with the numbers.
Our current, modern health care system wasn't even envisioned in 1867. While it does fall largely to the provinces, it is a shared responsibility. The federal government does have a role in it. Its major role is through the landmark legislation that governs the billions of dollars in transfers, which is the Canada Health Act. The five principles of the Canada Health Act are designed to make sure that we don't have the kind of balkanization and disparities in our country that I think some of the measures Mr. Goldberg is putting forward would result in.
You know, I'm from New Brunswick. We are part of a national project here. We want to have a Canada Health Act that ensures that health care services are accessible and affordable across the country. The federal government plays an essential role in that.
So yes, the federal government is putting up money. It has historically come to arrangements with the provinces. But it does have the right, I think, to ensure that there's accountability for that and to look for some outcomes under the Canada health transfer and, at a minimum, the five principles of the Canada Health Act. Plus, bans on extra billing and user fees have to be in place. We need to see a strengthening of the Canada Health Act in particular, but also special programs for health care programs like the ones we're seeing with dental, we've seen with child care, and we would hope to see with pharmacare, where outcomes are guaranteed for the federal dollars. Increasingly, I think, that's what Canadians are looking for.