Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Constitution assigns responsibility for health care to the provinces. The federal government only gets involved through the exercise of its spending power which is now declining. The minister is the first federal Minister of Health to preside over annual reductions in federal transfers to the provinces for health care which is resulting in closing beds, waiting lines and friction with the provinces.
Will the minister acknowledge that there are now distinct limits to the federal power over health care policy? Will she tell the House how those limits will affect her dealings with the provinces of Canada?