Mr. Speaker, I believe the motion we have introduced today is still timely, even if we have just learned that the government is ready to spend money—we still do not know the exact amount—on the provinces' health care systems through transfer payments.
I know from a reliable source that the financing could reach $2.5 billion.
The motion we introduced asked for the unconditional restoration of transfer payments to the 1993-94 level when the Liberal government was elected.
We all know that, in 1993-94, transfer payments amounted to $18.8 billion. Those payments were brought back to $11 billion, following enormous pressure from opposition parties and from all stakeholders, even the National Forum on Health. The government allegedly did us a favour by reinvesting money in the administration of the provinces' health care systems, but this is no favour. Initially, the government was supposed to cut $49 billion over the next five years, but that amount was reduced to $42 billion. The federal government has done us no favour.
The government now tells us that it will spend $2.5 billion. In Quebec's case, this means that funding will be cut by $1 billion a year—