Mr. Speaker, no matter the numbers quoted this morning, as I said before, behind these numbers there are real people who are suffering. This is the reality in health care across Canada. Stop telling me about a miserly $1 billion when we know the cuts in Quebec amount to $7 billion. Seven billion dollars is several times $1 billion.
Behind seemingly generous numbers lies the fact that in some areas the cuts amount to 10 or 15 times that. If I were her I would be ashamed; she is the minister who kept on cutting instead of preventing the cuts in health care. She said she brought finances back to health. How dare she use such a word? She made finances healthy again in the area of health care. Now I have heard everything.
I too am going to quote a number to support my arguments. Total health care cuts in Quebec amount to 30%, even though we represent only 24.5% of the Canadian population. Therefore I believe Quebec, which pays $32 billion in taxes, does not get its fair share.
This morning's debate is also about the duplications this government intends to create, as is the case with the millennium scholarships. What the government wants to do is interfere with provincial areas of jurisdiction. Quebec does quite well in several areas, we do not need two different structures.
Over 1,000 students in Quebec will not be able to get a $3,000 scholarship because of duplication. This is what we are fighting against.
The government should be fair and equitable and give the existing surplus back to the provinces, because our health care system needs it.