Mr. Speaker, the provinces have had exclusive jurisdiction and authority over health since the 1867 Constitution Act was passed, leaving the federal government with the responsibility to legislate in the areas of food and drugs, criminal law, quarantine and marine hospitals.
The provinces have been vested with the legislative powers relating to hospitals, the medical profession and the practice of medicine, including costs and effectiveness, the nature of the health care system and the privatization of medical services.
Yet, even though the Constitution Act, 1867 is clear on this, particularly sections 92(7), (13) and (16), the federal lawmaker has been using its inherent spending power to set national standards for provincial medicare programs. It is thus imperative to limit this federal spending power, hence today's motion:
That this House urges the government to respect provincial jurisdiction over health care management, to increase transfers to the provinces for health care unconditionally, and to avoid using budget surpluses to encroach upon the health care field.
All the premiers at the meeting in Saskatoon last August called on the federal government to restore the transfer payments it had taken for itself since 1994 so that they could do something about the widespread needs making themselves felt in the health care system. They called for $6.3 billion, of which $1.8 billion, and therefore over $1 billion for health alone, is Quebec's share.
The federal government has now balanced its budget and is even getting ready to build up a huge surplus estimated at between $12 billion and $15 billion, largely through provincial cuts, to health in particular.
From the beginning, the Bloc Quebecois has been fighting to have the money cut from Quebec's transfer payments restored.
Today, all the premiers were told that they would get back a small portion of what they were asking for to help them with health care costs. This is a far cry from the initial demand of last August, but we are running out of steam and have agreed to accept this paltry amount, which is our due, because it has been offered without any conditions, and Quebec has defended the interests of Quebeckers well on this score. It will be in a better position than anyone else to know which parts of its health care system are most in need of funds.
I would now like to go back to the federal government's interference in provincial affairs, because the Constitution Act, 1867, clearly sets out which are federal and which are provincial areas of jurisdiction.
The federal government is returning to the provinces only part of the billions it cut but, in its constant quest for visibility, apparently has millions to spend on new programs, such as a national home care program. The Liberal government is denying the provinces the right to opt out with full financial compensation for home care. This is a bit like what is happening with the millennium scholarships.
But there is more: in its 1997 budget, the federal government announced that it would spend $150 million over three years on the health services adjustment fund to help the provinces set up pilot projects to provide home care or pharmacare, even though Quebec, well ahead in this area as in many others, already has its own programs.
Since the Constitution prevents the Liberal government from opening federal CLSCs in Quebec, it goes through the back door so it can interfere in areas under provincial jurisdiction, as it did in education with the millennium scholarships.
Moreover, the health minister is going to spend $50 million over three years to set up a national health information system, as planned in the 1997 budget, and $100 million over three years to improve two existing programs: the community action program for children and the Canada prenatal nutrition program.
Is it going to offer the right to opt out with full compensation to the provinces that do not want those programs?
Finally, on June 18, the federal government renewed its commitment to the fight against breast cancer. The renewed federal contribution is set at $45 million for the first five years. The Minister of Health announced that the Canadian breast cancer initiative would be renewed and enjoy stable, ongoing funding of $7 million per year, as well as a whole series of measures in this area.
However, the breast cancer initiative of the federal government is duplicating Quebec's cancer control program that the former health minister, Mr. Rochon, and the president of the cancer advisory council made public last April. This innovative tool will be used throughout the province of Quebec and has become Quebec's cancer control program, whose theme is it takes a team to beat cancer.
Through its spending power, the federal government is getting involved in cancer control, which demonstrates once again that the Liberal government always finds money to duplicate the work of the provinces. And what about the national report card the health minister has announced?
Again, the minister seems to forget that, since the provinces manage health care services, they are in the best position to know what the health care situation is in their respective jurisdiction.
So, we urge the federal government not to use this annual report to penalize the provinces that do not want any part in it. Will we have the right to opt out?
Our political party will always defend the interests of Quebec. It seems to me that all the other Canadian provinces are not close to their people, since they are willing to accept the central government's interference in their area of jurisdiction. The health issue should have been an eye-opener. But what if it were a question of pride?
To be proud, one has to identify with one's people, which is quite easy for Quebeckers.