Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Just to be clear, and out of deference to what I'd like to say, I won't talk about the almost $11 billion for the whole program. That being said, the deputy minister of finance has talked about throwing stones into a lake. I think we have to really understand here that we have a significant difference with respect to how we should be spending Canadians' money and when we should be spending Canadians' money. The deputy minister of finance would say we're throwing stones into a lake. Well, if you're throwing boulders into a lake, there's a good chance that you'll actually fill up the lake.
That's really the point here. It's about how much this government wants to continue to spend, which of course we all know is fuelling the inflationary fire as well. That's the real point here. “Let's spend a billion here and a billion there; here a billion, there a billion, everywhere a billion.” That really doesn't make any sense to me. Those billions add up. I don't know that there's any billion-dollar money tree that exists out in the backyard behind Parliament Hill.
I think that's the difficulty and perhaps the entrenchment that we see. We have a significant difference in how we think we should be spending, and when we should be spending, Canadians' money. That's an important thing. Even the Minister of Health alluded to that today, talking about how people need to make good decisions about where and when they spend their money and how they spend it. That perhaps is a significant difficulty.
I just want to be clear on something. I know that this has been a bit belaboured, but what we're saying here is that in terms of all eligibility requirements being met with respect to salaries, age, etc.—this is just to be crystal clear—people who have a private plan will never qualify for this money, but people who are covered by their provincial plan and by NIHB will.
Do I have that right?