That's an excellent question.
Under the Canada Health Act, the transfer was initially supposed to be about 50%. Now it's 22%. I'm concerned about children's health, and I know my colleagues in adult medicine have the same concerns for their adult clientele. Approximately 40% of Quebec's budget is allocated to health, which can be explained in part by the province's aging population. That leaves little room to invest in the other parameters that have a major impact on children's health.
You have to remember that health is a provincial jurisdiction. That's never been questioned, but, if health transfers were increased, the provinces would have the necessary leeway to invest in the other parameters related to children's health. I'm thinking of education, for example, which I briefly discussed earlier. The state of our school system across the country is appalling. Our lagging performance in education, literacy, numeracy and the fight against students dropping out of school will have a major impact on the health of those children, who are tomorrow's adults.
Health transfers must be increased to give a free hand to the provinces, which are more familiar with the structure of health systems than anyone else. The problems in the pediatric population are the same in all provinces. The mental health problems mentioned earlier are everywhere, but it's obvious that the structures in place from province to province aren't the same. The deficiencies aren't in the same areas. In my view, these transfers must definitely be increased to give the provinces a free hand to act in accordance with the health parameters specific to each province, as in education and the environment. That will have a major impact on children's health.