Mr. Speaker, I did enjoy the hon. member's comments. I wish I could speak fluently enough in the beautiful French language, but I must speak in English. I am not good enough yet to carry on detailed conversations in French.
In health care, the needs of the people of Quebec are the same as those of the people in my province of Nova Scotia. All of the provinces have serious deficit situations and we have had to begin dealing with deficit reduction. I remind the hon. member that the province of Quebec has not attempted to reduce its deficit as the other provinces have done. This is a major concern in dealing with health care.
Another variant which occurs in the health care system is that some provinces give credence to many health care needs. For example, some of the provinces consider cosmetic surgery part of the health care program. Through the years in Nova Scotia we have had more than basic coverage in programs such as dental care for children, an excellent program covering dental care up to the age of 16.
What has happened under the broad umbrella of health care is the provinces have added on things encompassing more than basic health care. They cannot afford them. We have heard recently that
Quebec must close some 25 hospitals. This is not due to the federal government's cutbacks. This is due to the overspending and the additional encompassing programs which have come under health care.
What the federal government wants, and I ask the hon. member if this is not her desire too, is to preserve the health care programs for all Canadians as to basic needs, so that this is a very unifying factor for this country. Without the strong federalist approach to the health care needs, we will miss out.