Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Dr. Francoeur, thank you for joining us this evening. I would also like to thank you for your commitment to the health and well‑being of the people in our area. I know that you served for almost seven years as president of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec, and that you're now taking on new challenges. Congratulations on all your hard work.
I would like to understand the process that led to the proposed national pharmacare program. When you were president of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec, you supported the Quebec government's calls for increased health care transfers. The agreement reached with the federal government stipulated that it would cover 50% of the costs. However, it currently pays roughly 22% of the bill. We were realistic and reasonable. We asked the federal government to cover 35% of the costs. For Quebec, this meant an increase of about $6 billion. We received $900 million, which isn't even one sixth of the amount requested. In my opinion, this isn't enough.
A pharmacare program is being proposed. However, without increased health transfers, there isn't any hope of revolutionizing the system and solving all the problems. It seems that the next logical step is missing.
If the goal is to improve health care and provide a better pharmacare program, like our program in Quebec, shouldn't health transfers be increased?