Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
I'd like to talk about health. I'm a member for the Outaouais region, where we have the longest waiting lists for surgery and the lowest nurse to population ratio. Our emergency rooms are overflowing. We have one of the longest waiting lists for a family doctor. Wait times at the emergency room are also the worst in Quebec. We have a shortage of doctors and specialists, and when we have them, they can't do their work because they are short-staffed.
That's why I was very pleased that the budget included nearly $200 billion for the provinces. Of course, we were talking about the Conservatives' solutions, which involve cutting spending. That would be extremely irresponsible and damaging. I believe it would lead to the death of many people in my riding and across Canada. Why would they cut spending? To provide tax relief to corporate polluters in Canada. Well done, what a great policy.
I want to go back to the budget and additional investments. How can they help the provinces meet their urgent health care needs?
I would ask Dr. Lafontaine to answer first, followed by Mr. Staples.