Mr. Speaker, I suggest again that this budget is to be placed on top of the last three budgets because it is building a clear layer by layer infrastructure. It is also to be placed on top of the social accord which, the hon. member would agree, the premier of his province did not sign on to.
Therefore I should ask him why his premier did not consider the needs of Quebeckers in the context of the needs of all Canadians. By denying the ability to look at the social accord he is denying Quebeckers the right to work together in partnership with the federal government to build a stronger infrastructure, not only of health care but for social services.
Poverty is a very clear indicator of health. Productivity is one issue that we need to look at. Those are some of the built-in issues. A budget does not stand alone. The issues that we are talking about are not in isolation from everything else. Economic and social issues are interdependent on each other.
In order to build something for Quebeckers we would have to look at the whole, at how we deal with all the issues and whether Quebeckers get an opportunity to participate as the other nine provinces are.