I mean, I hear you. We want to make effective use of public dollars and we want the money to get to places where it is needed most, but the aim of the program, of the legislation, is not just to provide medication to Canadians; it's also to get the price of drugs lower. We have to get the price down.
Again, it's no surprise to hear criticism of bulk purchasing in the discussion today from certain quarters that don't want that, but I think Canadians do. Our health care system does. Right now we spend as much on drugs in our health care system as we do on doctors. In fact, only hospitals are the next higher up. We have to get the overall price of drugs down to a lower level. That will require a coordinated bulk buying strategy.
You know, not all provinces pay the same amount for pharmaceuticals. There are different arrangements that are made. As Mr. Giroux mentioned in his very interesting October 2023 report, increased transparency from a bulk buying strategy will help lower the costs to everybody, because all provinces will get the same price, as opposed to one—