Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the comments made by my hon. colleague. I know that she is very knowledgeable about health issues and that she really wants to ensure that the Canadian health care system is in the best of shape.
I would, however, like to remind her and this House that medicare was invented by Quebec a few decades ago through the good services of Mr. Castonguay. That is why we as Quebecers care about maintaining the essential characteristics of a good health care system.
Of course, such a system needs predictable financing. The Canadian provinces and Quebec have had to deal with the cuts in established programs financing that have been carried out for over a decade, in violation of the 1977 agreement promising reliable funding to the provinces; they had to make do and, in some cases, even improvise in health care matters. That is where the shoe pinches.
By redefining the transfer of taxpayers' money to the provinces, the federal government has gradually destabilized the Canadian health care system. In fact, the federal government has, unintentionally, I admit, contributed to this decline of the Canadian health care system, which is already leading to a two-tier system.
Basically, we have a right to ask the following question: Why does the federal government not transfer to the provinces and Quebec all the tax points linked to health care financing so that the provinces and Quebec can determine themselves the best way to provide services in compliance with the five fundamental principles of health care?
I would like my colleague to give me her opinion on this.