Mr. Speaker, I did not say that we had a two tier system, I said that we were heading that way.
When transfer payments to provinces are cut by $33 billion, including $10 billion for Quebec alone, it is obvious that health care is in jeopardy.
Quebec does all it can to maintain the five major principles of medicare. We believe in universality and accessibility and when we are a sovereign country these five principles will be maintained.
We believe in those principles, but what can a province do when its funds are being cut off and hospital costs are skyrocketing? I remind the House that our population is ageing and needs more health care. Furthermore, new technologies, like laser treatments and other medical equipment, arre increasingly expensive.
When Quebec needs more money to buy new equipment and to give health care to an ageing population but its transfer payments are cut by $10 billion, how do members think it will be able maintain the five great principles of medicare?