I will answer those in reverse.
With regard to the second question about whether the federal government can know—whoever the federal government is, not just this administration—what the health care needs are in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the territories, Atlantic Canada, Quebec or Ontario, it can at a high level, possibly, but it should always be looking for opportunities to work with the subnational jurisdictions on how it can fund. Traditionally, our health care was funded fifty-fifty. There were tax points moved to the province a number of years ago. The chair of the Council of the Federation at that point in time was Premier Legault from Quebec, and we very much were supportive of returning the health care funding balance back to the 35:65 that it was always intended to be.
What would that mean to Saskatchewan? We landed with the federal funding at a 2.6% increase, I believe, over the next five years. We just released our budget this past year, and 10.4% was the lift we provided to health care. Some of that is to change how we deliver health care in the province. A 35% lift would restore the balance.
I think what you're seeing happen today is provinces—and you're seeing a number of their budgets coming out as we speak—making up the difference in many cases. That is what we're doing here, and that's why I think this committee meeting is very important for ensuring that we have a palatable and attractive investment environment. In our case in Saskatchewan, it's only through the strength of our growing economy that we're actually able to make that 10.4% investment in health care and a 9% investment in education, which is another provincial area of jurisdiction.
We have many points of agreement with Premier Legault at the Council of the Federation table and beyond. Premier Legault intervened, as did six other provinces—Quebec intervened on Saskatchewan's behalf—in the Supreme Court case when it came to removing the consumer carbon tax on Canadians. We, in turn, have collaborated with Premier Legault on advocating, working through our first ministers table, to restore health care funding for all provinces.