Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for your very well put-together presentations this afternoon.
One of my questions is part of sort of a recurring theme, and I'll direct it first to our witnesses from Quebec.
It's great to have you here. You talked a lot about issues that in my view were largely in the realm of provincial jurisdiction, essentially home care and social services. I think at one point, when Madam Desjardins was speaking about education in particular, she noted that the best way to deal with that was through transfers. Even in Madam McGowan's presentation, I had the sense that there was great need. I don't disagree: there is definitely need for these types of social programs to exist to help those who are particularly vulnerable in our society. I'd ask both of you for a general comment.
Would it not be better to have the federal government make sure that provinces have the dollars they need, and then allow the provinces to manage those programs? They're closer to the situation. I get concerned when we start talking about a national program. Believe me—I've been here fourteen months, and this is no criticism, but it's a reality that national programs can become very costly from an administrative point of view. As well, you are removed from the reality of delivering those programs to citizens.
One of the biggest themes of this week's budget was to make sure that those transfers were better divided and that those dollars got into the hands of the provinces so that they could do that work. I wonder, since the budget just came out Monday, if you would have some comment on whether that in fact will help, particularly for Quebec. I think that the new transfer there was some $3.5 billion.
Madame.