Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Madam Minister, before the first wave, healthcare networks were already fragile and under a lot of pressure because of chronic underfunding. With the passage of time, the pandemic will have harmful, long-term, collateral effects on patients who do not have COVID-19. According to representatives of various associations, 94,000 patients in Quebec are being seen beyond the required timeframe. In oncology, we know that a delay of three or four weeks increases the mortality rate by 8% to 10%.
You have reached agreements and you have showed us the breakdown of the $19 billion you have allocated for patients with COVID-19. However, why did you not make the political choice to immediately inject money into the networks so that they can not only look after patients with conditions other than COVID-19, but also fill the breach and stop the bleeding caused by the exodus of employees, our human resources, because they are sick or they decide to change careers?
Soon, we will be losing trained people who have gained expertise in their areas. People are going to die. All because you made the wrong political choice. All the experts are saying that this is not justified either medically or economically.
Why did you make that choice?